You Make My Dreams
by princessyuki08
Summary: Layla has always worked as a stagehand at the Moon Theatre with Buster ever since she was a kid. To help save the theatre, with the help of her fellow stagehand, Miles, she will do everything she can to make sure that the singing competition is a success, trying her best not to fall in love with one of the contestants in the process. Johnny/OC, Ash/OC, Buster/OC
1. Chapter 1: Just Keep Breathing

**AN: Hello everyone, thank you for reading my story. Those of you who have already read these chapters and are seeing the email alerts for this chapter and the second chapter, it is because I had to update the story since I used a few lyrics from the Journey song Don't Stop Believing in this chapter. It was the last verse and the bridge before the song ends. I chose the song because I thought it'd be a good fit to the characters, but unfortunately it is against the rules.**

 **Thank you to all who have reviewed, this story is for you.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter One: Just Keep Breathing**

"You've gotta be kidding, Alex!" I exclaimed pissed, "We had a deal!"

"Sorry, Layla, but I got a better offer." Alex shrugged.

"Better offer?" I retorted, "I'm your girlfriend."

"Yeah, about that…" He trailed off.

"You know what, forget it." I glared, "Forget about the deal, forget about us, we're done." I left him standing there in silence. When he started to call after me, I put in my earbuds and turned on my iPod to drown him out. It's not like he was going to change. I was better without him. I shouldn't have been surprised by Alex's behavior, it wasn't new for him to do this to me. I couldn't put up with it anymore, I deserved someone who treated me better.

I looked down at my watch, it was quarter to noon. "Shit, Buster's gonna kill me." I shifted my backpack so it was on both of my shoulders, and then started to sprint to the Moon Theatre. I couldn't be late again, I was the only stage hand he had left outside of Miss Crawly and that isn't saying much. Still, if I was late again, I could lose this job and I really needed this. Sure, the last two paychecks bounced and the theatre was starting to go out of business, but I loved the theatre, the stage, and this was the closest I could get to it. I closed my eyes and took a breath, so I could calm down. No sooner I did that, I crashed into someone. My earbuds were pulled out as we both fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry." I apologized repeatedly to the animal below me, "I didn't mean to crash into you. I should have been watching…" I trailed off when I saw the gorilla staring back at me in surprise. He was in a green shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it, a leather jacket, jeans, and black converses. He was at least a foot taller than me. His eyes were unlike ones I had ever seen. They were an ordinary brown, but there was a kindness to them unlike I had seen in another gorilla in a very long time. "Sorry." I scrambled off of him, picking up the iPod and earbuds off the ground.

"It's alright." He replied, getting back onto his feet, and then helped me up, "It was an accident." He gave me a small smile. I gave him a sheepish one in return.

"What's going on back there?" A cop called over to us. My new acquaintance expression had turned to one of genuine fear. I looked over at the cops and then back to him.

"Do you trust me?" I asked him.

"I just met you." He replied.

"Then you have nothing to lose." I told him, turning my attention back to the cops, "I'm sorry, sirs. I'm sure this looks suspicious, but it was the only place we could meet. My parents don't approve of our relationship." I lied to them, "We'll find somewhere else to meet up."

"See that you do." One of the cops replied, accepting my lie.

I turned back to face my "lover" after the cops left the alley entrance, "I think they should leave you alone at least for a while now." I told him, "They friends of yours?"

"My dad's." He replied honestly. I nodded in understanding, my uncles had similar relationships with the cops.

"Well, I've gotta go." I said after a few moments, "I'm running late. Sorry again for crashing into you." I left for the theatre.

"Miss Crawly?" I called for Buster's secretary as I headed into the theatre, "Miss Crawly?"

I found her at her desk outside of Buster's office. She was sorting through paperwork and putting together the flyers for the next show. Buster was nowhere to be seen.

"Is Buster here?" I asked her.

"He went out to lunch, Layla." She answered. I let out a sigh of relief. "He didn't notice you hadn't been in yet. He thought you were already fixing the broken stage lights."

"I'll get on that now." I told her and went out the door. I turned back and popped my head in her doorway, "Thank you for saying anything to Buster." I left to go to lighting, so that I could fix the lights.

When I got to the stage, I set down my backpack next to curtain wall and then got my tool kit from the maintenance room. I got what I needed out of the kit and climbed up the ladder, so I could get onto the catwalk to fix the broken lights. I pulled out my iPod and earbuds from my pocket when I got up, but the iPod in my hands wasn't my own, neither were the earbuds. "I must have grabbed the wrong iPod when I got up." I turned on his iPod and scrolled through it. I know it's kind of invading privacy and it wasn't mine, but I wasn't going to get anything done in silence. My mind would start to wander. I found a song I loved and clicked on it. After a while I started to sing along with the song, Don't Stop Believing, as I worked.

 **Johnny's POV**

I smiled as I looked at the iPod in my hands thinking of the girl it had belonged to. I didn't meet anyone while I was with my dad and his gang. I slid the iPod and the earbuds in my pocket. If I ever ran into her again, I would return them. I went back to my spot on against the wall to watch for the cops to come back. After a while, I found myself starting to sing a song that had been stuck in my head for a few days now. Static from a walkie-talkie startled me from the world I had found myself lost in, I looked around the corner to find the cops coming back from the donut shop when the girl had left. I went to hide before they reached the entrance of the alley.

"Thought I heard someone singing there." One of them remarked as they passed, "Ah, whatever."

I heard the alarm go off and I pulled out my walkie-talkie to warn them, "Guys, listen. Stay where you are. The cops are in-"

With the sound of breaking glass, I realized I was too late. Dad and his gang had already made their escape from the building. The police, upon hearing the sound of the breaking glass, came running into the alley. A look of disappointment and anger flashed across Dad's face before he ran to the truck. I had let him down again.

"Go! Go! Go!" He yelled to our getaway driver, Benny, when he got in the back of the truck, slamming his hand on the hood with each 'Go'. Benny drove off. I ran to catch up to them. When I was close enough, Dad pulled me into back of the pickup with him.

"Johnny, you were supposed to be keeping a lookout!" He exclaimed annoyed.

"Sorry, Dad." I apologized.

"And where's your mask?!"

My eyes widened in fearful realization. I had forgotten to put it back on after the girl had ran into me. I quickly took it out of my jacket pocket and put it back on.

 **Layla's POV**

"Layla, can you come down here for a moment?" I could hear Buster call up to me through his megaphone. I was lucky I had it paused while I was looking for another song, I wouldn't have been able to hear him at all. I turned off the iPod and slid it into my jeans pocket. I may never fully turn off my own, but I was going to be respectful with his.

"Layla!" Buster called again.

"Coming!" I called back before climbing down to meet him on stage, "What's up?"

"We've got auditions starting tomorrow for the next show, is everything ready to go?"

"I'm almost done with the lighting and the electrical, and then I'm going to go fix the stair railings, and then we should be done with the immediate issues in here." I answered, "I also have to look at the trap door, since it was sticking in the last show and wouldn't go all the way up. Mary had to pull herself up on stage. If we aren't using it anytime soon, I could push it back till after the auditions, so it's available if any of the performers need to use it later."

"It's a singing competition." Buster replied bluntly, not getting why it would be needed.

I shrugged, "Some performers like to make an entrance."

"What else needs to be fixed?"

"Concessions and the Green Room need to be repainted after the fire and the front glass of the box office needs to be replaced."

"Do you think you can get all of it done before the show opens?"

"Maybe." I replied, I knew I could get most of it done before opening day if I wasn't doing tech for the show as well.

"What if you had help?"

"Help?" I asked unsurely, as far as I knew it was just me, Buster, and Miss Crawly in the theatre anymore. Buster would be too busy with the show and Miss Crawly would be more of a liability than a help as kind as she is.

"Miles agreed to come back."

"That needle-headed prick?" I retorted incredulously, "Buster, please tell me you didn't."

"He's coming back as a volunteer, and if you don't like the work he's doing, I'll let him go."

"He doesn't do any work." I continued to argue, "I'd still be doing all of the work myself."

"If he doesn't work, he gets let go." Buster stated, "He's already been made aware that he would be working under you. He agreed to do the work and we need the extra help."

"Alright, but if I find him slacking off, I want him gone."

"Done." Buster agreed.

"When does he arrive?"

"Tomorrow afternoon after auditions." Buster answered, "I thought I'd give you some time to get used to the idea of him coming back and I need you to be concentrated on helping with the auditions."

"You want me to help with auditions?" I asked confused. I had never helped with auditions and casting.

"You'll be able to help find singers that would be popular with the younger demographic."

"I can try."


	2. Chapter 2: Any Way You Want It

**AN: Thank you for reading and for reviewing.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Two: Any Way You Want It**

The publicity flyers had gone out and animals from all over the city lined up outside of the theatre to audition. I looked out the window from the green room at all of them, I had never seen so many animals gathered in one place at the same time and it was for our show no less.

"Well, here goes nothing." I told myself before heading down to the auditorium. I walked into the auditorium shortly after the first audition started. Buster handed me a notebook as I sat down next to him.

"Take notes on each audition and we'll compare after everyone is finished." He told me. I silently nodded. He looked back to the tank of lobsters, "We're ready when you are!"

They started their act and we took notes. I didn't find much to their act. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't attention grabbing either. The next act was a pig named Gunther in glittery gold jumpsuit singing Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. Now that guy had energy and he was fun, I had written more notes on him than the group before him. He had the makings of an entertainer, but there seemed to be something missing from his act. It was like we were missing half of it. The third act was a group of frogs. I found them kind of boring, but Buster seemed to really like them. The next few acts after all seemed go by pretty quickly, they weren't bad. Actually, the sheep guy who sung A Kiss from a Rose was actually really good after the accidental 'baa'. There was a hippo though that brought his own keyboard, he- He was terrible. And there was the rabbit trio who didn't really even sing, they kind of just talked and swayed their hips. The next act to grab my attention were a couple of porcupines. The boy porcupine was loud and obnoxious, but the girl, she could sing. If she ditched her partner, she could have a great career. I looked over at Buster when the girl belted out, I could tell he really liked her too. The llama after them spent their whole audition time tuning their guitar.

I shook my head; that was just bad planning. They should have tuned their guitar ahead of time. I didn't even bother writing down notes. The way I see it: no song, no notes.

The several auditions that followed were absolutely dreadful. The only good performance that had come up so far was a Giraffe. He had a nice voice, but his song selection was boring. Buster seemed to like him though. I finished writing my notes on his performance as the next singer came up on stage.

"I'm Johnny, I'll be singing Stay with Me by Sam Smith." The singer introduced himself. My head shot up at the sound of his voice. He was the guy I had run into yesterday.

"Whenever you're ready, Johnny." Buster smiled encouragingly. He nodded and started his song, which was Stay With Me by Sam Smith. I closed my eyes and listened to him sing, his voice was beautiful. I found myself lost in his voice as I had yesterday in his eyes by the time he had finished his song.

I hesitantly woke up from my thoughts as Buster thanked him for his performance when he finished. I wrote my notes down about him and the song. So far, he was my pick as a competitor.

"Next we have Meena." Miss Crawly called the next animal out. Johnny ran backstage excited about his good audition and wished luck to Meena, who was an elephant. It was easy to tell she was shy and nervous. She became even more so after knocking over the mic. Even though Buster tried to encourage her, the damage had already been done. She was too scared to sing. She was pushed away by the next contestant, a little white mouse. She sadly walked off stage.

"I'm gonna go see if she's alright." I whispered to Buster as the mouse, Mike, started his song. I ran out of the theatre to try to catch up to her.

"Meena!" I called after her once I caught up to her, she stopped and turned around. She looked like she was about to cry. In all fairness, so would I if that had happened to me. "I'm Layla, I work in the theatre. I sat in on your audition."

"I'm sorry I wasted your guys' time." She apologized, looking down.

"You didn't waste our time, you didn't get to do your audition." I corrected, "And you didn't get to do your audition because a pushy little mouse decided he was more important, which can happen sometimes and I'm sorry you were scared off. You should have had the chance to try to audition."

"Thanks." She replied, slightly happier.

"Now, I can't promise another audition, but I can promise I will talk to Mr. Moon about seeing you." I told her, "And if I cannot get him to re-audition you, I could probably get to you to be a part of the show in some way if you're willing. And maybe if you work on this show, you might be able to have more confidence if you audition for the next show because you'll know the people you're auditioning for. I know that means you wouldn't get a chance at the prize money, but at least you would have some experience."

"I don't know." She replied unsurely, "I really messed up back there."

"Please consider it." I implored, "If you would like to work the show, or possibly re-audition, please come back tomorrow."

"Okay." She nodded.

"I have to go back inside, but are you okay?"

"Yeah." She replied, "Thank you."

I went back inside and to my seat next to Buster.

"She okay?" He asked.

"I think she'll be fine." I replied as the next singer came onstage, she was a pig named Rosita. She was talented, but she just stood there and sang. She could be really entertaining with a little pizazz. Actually, she'd be entertaining with that pig Gunther. I took my notes on her performance and when she was done Buster thanked her for audition.

Couple hundred animals later, we were done.

"Okay, that's everyone, Mr. Moon." Miss Crawly announced tiredly.

"Great!" Buster replied, before turning to me, "Who stood out to you, Layla?"

"Johnny, Gunther, Rosita, and the girl porcupine from the rock duo." I told him soundly, "I'd also like to talk to you about Meena, the elephant girl-"

"We can talk about her later after everyone is gone." Buster interrupted, "Right now, we have to focus on the people who auditioned. I agree with you on the girl from the rock duo. Gunther and Rosita were good, but I'm not sure if they're good enough on their own to be an entry."

"We could pair them." I suggested.

"I'll think about it." He replied, "Now Johnny was good, but there were a few who were better."

I nodded in understanding. Buster knew more about this than I did.

"Alright, call everyone back to stage, Miss Crawly." Buster told her. Before he could continue with what he was going to say, Miss Crawly called everyone back on stage with the megaphone. He thanked her and she responded with a 'you're welcome' through the megaphone. Before he could ask, I went and turned on the house lights and then sat back down. Buster went up on stage and went through his list. "Alright, alright, alright, let's see." He said as he walked back and forth past the line-up. "I'll take you guys." He said to the frog trio, which I didn't get that choice, but it would create variation. He stopped in front of the porcupine duo, "Which one of you is the girl?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny." The girl porcupine replied sarcastically.

"Loud and horrible, but shows promise." He told her, "Welcome to the show."

"Cool, I guess we could hang." The boy porcupine responded, thinking Buster meant both of them.

"No, I just want her, not you." Buster responded bluntly.

"What?" The boy responded.

"What Mr. Moon said was pretty clear." I told him, "The girl only made it through, you were the horrible part of the act. She has so much more talent than you do and you purposely drown her out."

"What did you say to me?" The boy retorted.

"Layla, we don't have time for you to go back and forth at the moment." Buster stated before I could respond, and then turned his attention back to the group, "That's it for the group acts. The rest of you may go home. Oh, don't feel so bad. There'll be a 10% discount on tickets." Buster turned back around, so he could focus on the solo acts. The rest of the group acts left bitterly. "Okay soloists, Johnny, Mike, Pete Richard, Daniel, and Ray." The small group of guys emerged from the crowd. "Gotta have you in show." Buster said to the pushy mouse, Mike.

"Well, if you insist." Mike responded smiling arrogantly. I rolled my eyes, he was going to be **_fun_** to work with.

"Pete." Buster announced, which I didn't agree with at all. "And one more, let me see."

Buster ended up sending Richard and Ray home. It was down to Johnny and Daniel.

"Daniel." Buster announced, "Thank you, Johnny."

"You've gotta be kidding." I muttered, disappointed at the pick between the two. Daniel and Pete were the supposedly better choices? Daniel was boring and Pete, well there was nothing wrong with him, I just didn't see him doing well with a mass majority of audiences. I stood, maybe I could catch Johnny before he left. After a few attempts to get Daniel's attention, Buster called Johnny back and bid Daniel farewell. I smiled to myself, happy to see that Buster was going to give him a chance.

"That's everyone on my list." Buster told the group, looking through the stack of papers he had on his clipboard. As everyone started to leave, Buster called, "Is Rosita still here?"

"Yes! Yes!" Rosita ran out to the front of the stage, waving her hand, "I'm here."

"Rosita, Rosita, Rosita…" Buster scanned his notes, "Great set of pipes, but boring to watch."

Her face fell, "I knew it."

"So, what should I do?" He asked, "I could partner you up with Gunter."

I smiled widely, happy he took my suggestion for their pairing. Buster called for Gunter, who excitedly ran and leapt onto the stage.

"Yeah, that's me!" He exclaimed when he landed.

"That's gonna spice things up on stage." Buster said ecstatically, "Great idea, Layla!" He complimented me. This time instead of paying attention to Buster, like everyone had when I called out the boy porcupine, the group of people who were left looked at me. I looked down at my notes, not really wanting the attention. Buster noticed my uncomfortability and spoke up again, "Okay, you are my chosen few. This is it, folks, the defining moment in all of our lives."

A group of girl red pandas ran up on stage and started to speak to Buster. They didn't speak English at all. The started to audition for him, not understanding the show had already been cast.

"Miss Crawly! Layla!" Buster called for us not wanting to deal with them. I stood as Miss Crawly shooed them off the stage and I escorted them out of the theatre.

"Hey Eddie." I greeted him as I passed by him.

"Hi Layla." He nodded.

When I got back, Buster, Eddie, and Miss Crawly were gone. The small group was gathered around the chest with the prize money.

"Hey toots, you work here." Mike, who was sitting on top of the chest, said to me, "You got the keys to this thing?"

"I might, but that doesn't mean I'm going to open it for you." I crossed my arms, "And speaking to me like that, is going to endear me enough to you for me to open it anyway."

"C'mon, Doll, we want to see what $100,000 looks like." Mike replied, "How often do you get to see that type of money?"

"You are going the wrong way here." I replied deadpanned, and then I realized the number he had said. We didn't have that type of money. A thousand maybe, but definitely not a hundred thousand. "Any of you got a flyer?"

"Uh yeah." Johnny said pulling out a flyer from his jacket and handing it to me. I thanked him and looked at the flyer. It had said a hundred thousand alright. Miss Crawly must have made a typo when putting together the flyers. No wonder we had so many people audition, hell I would have auditioned if I thought we had this type of money. I could go back to university with that type of money. It's not like I could tell them we didn't have the money, none of them would stay for the show. Not that it was my place.

I sighed and handed the flyer back to Johnny, "Because of the amount in the chest, Mr. Moon would prefer the chest not to be opened until the show is over." I told them. It wasn't like I had lied, Buster probably would prefer for the chest to remain locked. I only implied that there was more in the chest than what there most likely was. All of them, except for Mike, seemed to accept that. Mike remained quiet, but I could tell he was skeptical of what I told them.

The doors to the auditorium were thrown open by Buster shortly after, "Alright everybody, go home right now." He stopped in front of the orchestra pit, "Cause like my Dad used to say: _'Get a goodnight's sleep and do a great day's work.'_ " Buster ran up to the stage, "That's right, rehearsals begin first thing tomorrow morning, and if you wanna become stars and win a hundred grand, you've gotta be ready to work harder than you've ever worked in your lives. So, get some sleep and dreams!"

The contestants cheered. The group of red panda girls reappeared behind Buster and started to do their little routine again. Miss Crawly shooed them away, but this time she had a broom in her hands. The group headed off the stage and made their way out of the theatre.

"Buster, I'm going to pick up dinner!" I called to him as he and Eddie went backstage. I headed out the auditorium doors, through the lobby, and out of the theatre, managing to catch up with Johnny in the process.

"Hey." I greeted him.

"Hi." He greeted in surprise.

"You audition was fantastic." I complimented, "I love that song."

"So do I." He replied shyly.

I pulled out his iPod from my jeans pocket, "I think these belong to you." I held up the device and earbuds. "I think we accidentally switched iPods yesterday." I replied, handing it to him. He thanked me, pulled mine out of his jacket pocket, and handed it to me.

"So, you work at the Moon Theatre?" He changed the subject.

"Work, live, repair." I replied, "I'm one of the stage hands at the theatre. Anything Mr. Moon needs that Miss Crawly can't do is my job."

I had been living at the Moon Theatre since I was a kid. My mom had been friends with Buster since they were kids. They shared a love of theatre. When Buster opened the theatre, she was the first person he offered a job to, my dad was the second. Mom was his stage manager and casting director, whereas Dad was the technical director, and when needed, he worked crew during productions. My parents met at the theatre before Buster's father bought it. They were stage hands on multiple productions, Dad usually worked with lighting or rigging and Mom would work in wardrobe. After Buster owned the theatre, he gave them a permanent job there. With them both working at Moon Theatre, I spent all of my time there, when I wasn't in school, picking up every tool of the trade that I could. When they died, it was either Buster or one of my uncles to take me in. Well, the police answered that question for us. Shortly after the funeral, my uncles were arrested for robbery. Buster took me in so I wouldn't have to go into foster care.

"So, what do you do when you're not hanging out in alleys and auditioning?" I asked him, not really wanting to go into my life story with a perfect stranger. He was a good looking stranger with a nice accent, and a beautiful singing voice, and kind brown eyes, but still I hardly knew him.

"I work for my dad." He answered vaguely. Remembering what he had said about his father's relationship with the cops and the fear he had when he saw them, I had a guess where he was going with it.

"Do you like it?"

"I love my Dad." He looked down, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. That was a no, but he'd do it anyway.

"Maybe this competition will change things." I offered hopefully.

"I hope so." He replied, "A hundred grand could really change my life."

"A hundred grand could change a lot of things."


	3. Chapter 3: Even If It Breaks Your Heart

**AN: Hello everyone. Thank you for reading and reviewing. To answer the question that I have been getting by many people: Layla is a gorilla. So was Alex, who you might see again later in the story. Miles is a porcupine, if I hadn't mentioned. I will also be bringing in a kola. So, I hope that answers that. Sorry, I wasn't very clear on that.**

 **Next chapter will bring back the contestants. This chapter is more to set up everything those characters need before they start their rehearsals and the thought that goes into that.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Three: Even If It Breaks Your Heart**

When I came back that night, I had a pesto flatbread pizza with onion spinach, and green peppers and a couple of bottles of hibiscus tea in hand. I got back a little later than I thought I would. Once the topic got on to music, Johnny and I both found it a little difficult to stop talking, until we ended up seeing the time. When we saw how late it was, we both parted our separate ways. It wasn't like I wouldn't see him tomorrow.

When I got up to Buster's office, I found him going through the contestants' audition forms and notes and putting together a list of songs for each of them. I half-smiled and shook my head, he always did have to have everything perfect when it came to how he did a show. The problem had never been the way a show was produced, directed, and put together, everything that was done backstage had always gone off without a hitch. It was usually the material we ended up with. Some things were terrible, no matter how much you try.

"How's it coming?" I asked him, setting down the pizza on his desk.

"I think I've got what I think each of them should be singing." He replied, looking up from the stacks of paper, "Why are you back so late? You left hours ago."

"Ran into someone" I shrugged and opened the pizza box.

"You know Layla, I've been meaning to talk to you about Alex." Buster started, assuming I was talking about Alex, but I stopped him before he could continue.

"No, no, Buster, I was talking to Johnny." I told him flustered, "We started talking and lost track of time."

"Johnny?" Buster asked confused, "Contestant for my show, Johnny?" He repeated for clarification, I nodded. "What happened to Alex?"

"He didn't work out."

"Good." He replied relieved, "I mean-"

"I'm glad he's gone too"

We both grabbed a slice of pizza and started to eat.

"Buster, I wanted to talk to you about that elephant girl, Meena." I tried again, "She didn't get a chance to sing at all before Mike pushed her off the stage. She didn't even get her full audition time."

"Now I know you feel she should be able to re-audition. I got that from the first time you mentioned her audition, but I have a full cast, my contestants have already been chosen." He told me. I looked down. I understood where he was coming from, but that didn't stop me from feeling bad for her. "But if she's willing to work backstage and someone happens to drop out for some reason, she can be in the show."

I looked up at him elated. That was an answer I could work with. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, you're the one who's going to be working with her to get her ready for the show if she does have to perform."

"Alright." I agreed, "Can I have her audition sheet?"

Buster handed me her sheet, I folded it and put it in the jacket pocket. I'd have to hear her sing before I could write any notes or songs on it. Getting her to sing would be the harder task of the two. Maybe though, if it were just us one on one, she might have more confidence to sing something even if it were just a few bars.

"How are you going to get her to sing for you?"

"I don't know." I admitted, "But I can't help her unless I hear something."

"Then I guess you'll be busy with Miles until she does."

"You mean he actually showed up?"

"He did." Buster nodded, "Fixed the trap door too."

"Wow." I replied impressed. Before Miles quit, he couldn't fix a faulty spotlight or fractured riser, let alone a trap door.

"He seems to have changed."

"I hope for the show's sake, he has." I replied, grabbing another piece of pizza. The next several weeks before the show and how involved Miles wanted to be will be quite telling on how well the show will go.

 **Miles' POV**

"Becky, have you seen the bandages?" I called out to my girlfriend, trying to prevent the blood from getting all over floor. I knew I'd over done it with on the drums again, but the more I practiced, the harder I worked, the better I will get.

There was no answer from her, which shouldn't have been surprising. She was always gone nowadays. She had met a guitarist and thought he'd make a great addition to our band. There was a small part of me that said there was more to it than that, but will come out when it needed to. I'd rather be with her and have her cheating on me than be alone, she's still paying rent on the apartment that way, at least until I can find a new roommate. It wasn't like I was in love with her. She was a good time, but that was it. She was a little too high maintenance for my tastes and a little dim-witted, but it wasn't like I was looking to marry her.

I found the bandages in her make-up drawer, which wasn't where I had left them at all. I don't want to know why she put them in there. Might as well add those to the list of things to hide along with my iPod charger and the pop-tarts. I shook my head at the thought and then bandaged my right paw. I shouldn't have to hide things from her and I knew it was wrong, but if she didn't keep taking then, I wouldn't have to keep hiding them.

I went in the kitchen and got the cleaning supplies from under the sink, so I could clean the floor. Becky would have a shitfit if she were to see the blood stains in the carpet. The more I think, the less I think I would feel bad about breaking up with her and finding someone less judgmental. If I'm lucky I'd find someone with a bit of talent or interest in music; Becky liked musicians, but had no talent or genuine love of it herself. She loved the idea of being in love with a musician. It was exhausting. She was exhausting. She was proving quite the education though, and to think of all of the times I complained about Layla and her attitude. That girl was a saint compared to Becky. Hell, any girl is a saint compared to her. Being with her felt like my head was repeatedly being slammed against a brick wall. I didn't wish her upon any porcupine, although any guy willing to take her off my hands is a fool.

I cleaned up the blood off the floor, put back the cleaning supplies, and went to bed. I was going to have a long and early day tomorrow with the rehearsals, I wanted to be prepared for it. I had to make a fresh start Layla, maybe we could have a fresh start and be friends after all of the crap I've pulled.

 **Layla's POV**

The next morning Miles showed up early before the performers arrived and started work in the green room so that it would be ready for them by the night of the contest. He didn't say anything when he came in, he merely went straight to work. It was a very welcomed sight to see compared to how he used to be. While he worked in the green room, I set up each of the rehearsal spaces for each performer. Buster still had their audition sheets with the song choices he had given them, so I set them up based on my notes on their auditions and the type of performer that they appeared to be. Each performer was different. For all of them, I included a stereo, so that if they needed to practice with a track they had the ability to, but I included different CDs for each performer.

For Ash, I included CDs from different female rockers that she could possibly take inspiration from. I tried to give her a bit of variety. I included Stevie Nicks, Heart, Pat Benatar, Blondie, 10,000 Maniacs, Paramore, Halestorm, Avril Lavigne (for which, I gravitated toward her first few albums), and The Cranberries. In her rehearsal space, I also had an amp and everything needed for her guitar brought in, as well as a drum kit and a base if she decided to do something live and wanted to rehearse with real instruments instead of a track.

Mike was slightly easier to put together a stack of CDs for since his genre was swing, blues, and jazz. He was very old school in his tastes in music. For him, I chose Sinatra, Gershwin, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Bing Crosby, Mel Torne, Perry Como, and Fred Astaire.

Rosita and Gunther both auditioned with pop songs, I thought it would be best to leave CDs of Artists who were in the pop genre. It was a bit harder for me to figure out what to leave in their rehearsal space, not that I had a lot of time to. In the end, I decided to leave them Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears (I gravitated towards her earlier albums), Madonna, Superchick, and P!nk.

For the frog group, whose names escaped me, I put a small stack of boy band CDs in their space next to their player. I didn't have to put much mind into it, they were a boy band. The groups I chose were the ones that would usually come to mind when anyone had to name one: NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Dream Street, New Kids on the Block, Boyz to Men, One Direction, All 4 One, The Wanted, Westlife, Jonas Brothers, and Jackson 5. For Pete, I stuck with old fashioned country singers from like the 50's through the 70's and placed them on the table next his stereo and moved on to the next room.

Johnny was the easiest to put together a stack for since I had went through his iPod and had an idea of the type of music he listened to. For him, I chose more artists than I did anyone else. When I started compiling his stack, I had a hard time stopping. When I finished the list, it contained: John Lennon, Elton John, David Bowie, Poison, U2, The Beatles, Sam Smith, Mumford & Sons, Billy Joel, Meatloaf, Aerosmith, Simon & Garfunkel, Rob Thomas, The Lumineers, The Script, Hall & Oates, and the Goo Goo Dolls. I had gone through it a few times, adding and taking out artists, and then made sure there was only a couple of CDs per artist. I knew that the more practical approach would have been to have a greatest hits for each of the artists who had one, but I looked at those and didn't like all of the songs on the disc. Instead, I chose my favorite album from each artist. After I finished with the stack of CDs, I had the piano brought in; so if there was the off chance that he played, he would have it there to use.

After I finished the preparing the rooms, I went to help Miles, who was in Concessions, it was going to take a lot of work to get that area back in the shape it was before the kitchen fire. It would have been fair to leave him in there to fix it himself.

"We're probably going to need a professional to fix some of these things." I heard Miles mutter.

"We don't have the money to hire one." I told him as I walked through the door, "Whatever we can do has to be good enough until we can get the money to fix or replace the things beyond our repair."

"How would we get people from coming here during intermission?"

"Short intermission, limit what they can see, and bring what they order to them." I answered

"But it'll just be the two of us." Miles pointed out.

"We'll have Mrs. Crawly to take the orders and everything we serve will be pre-made."

"Wouldn't we lose money if-" He started.

"No, what you'll wanna do is get three different types of cookies from the bakery of any grocery store and then take them out of the container and place them in nice individual sealed bags." I instructed, "Keep the receipt because that's what we'll use to deduce the price that we have the audience pay. Typically, it's double what the cookies would be individually and we market them as homemade."

"Why do I have to go get them?"

"New guy always gets the concessions." I stated, "Don't forget water bottles, preferably one with a common brand name, and a case of any clear soda that isn't club soda. Sprite, sierra mist, or 7up usually works. It's easier for us to clean, if someone spills it."


	4. Chapter 4: Counting Stars

**AN: Hello everyone, thank you all for reading the story. A special thanks to those who choose to review as well. I'm going to bring in the next OC soon, but for right now I have Layla and Miles, who will hopefully be entertaining enough for you. As I said before the next OC is a Koala. She'll be coming from a slightly unexpected place, but I didn't wan't to make her contestant. I thought that would be a little predictable, not that there's anything wrong with OCs who are contestants, it just wasn't right for this story.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **I do have other new stories up as well, if any of you enjoy Ghostbusters, The Santa Clause, and Chronicles of Narnia. If not, that's cool, I just wanted to let you guys know.**

 **You guys are awesome.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Four: Counting Stars**

By about nine, most of the contestants had arrived in the theatre. Some were earlier than others, Pete and the group of frogs showed up around eight. Mike and Johnny rolled in at around eight-thirty, Gunther arrived shortly after them, and Rosita ran in about nine. It was hard to say if the girl porcupine was going to show up, she hadn't yet. I watched him give his speech to the eight of them from the catwalk above the stage. I was no fool, if I had been down there in the auditorium like Miles at the moment, I would have been roped into helping them and I already have enough to do. Should I have warned Miles? Probably. Did I feel bad about not warning him? No.

"This contest is war, this stage the battlefield; your song is your weapon." Buster told them, "You only get one shot to blow the audience away."

 _'_ _That's a pretty forgiving audience.'_ I thought smirking; usually, with this theatre's reputation, you didn't even get an entire song.

"So, choose carefully from the list of songs I've selected." Buster instructed as the girl porcupine came onstage.

 _'_ _Didn't think she'd show up.'_ I thought impressed. She actually broke away from her boyfriend enough to actually compete.

Upon seeing the girl, Buster ran over to her, excited that she showed up, and asked her if she had talked sense into her boyfriend.

"Lance is an artist, but I wouldn't expect you to understand that." She retorted.

"Your right, I don't understand that at all." He quipped, I laughed at that little jab. He then went on to explain the lists and what was on them, and then had Mrs. Crawly show them to their individual rehearsal spaces.

"'Scuse me, Mr. Moon!" Johnny called after him, "For some reason, it says I should be playing the piano?"

"Yes, just imagine big soulful guy like you tenderly playing the keys, there'll be goosebumps everywhere." Buster responded. I sighed, he made lists on what would look good and be popular, instead of what they were actually good at. I didn't know if I felt bad for them or curiously entertained by the notion. I think it depended on the contestant.

"But I haven't played the piano since I was a kid." Johnny told him.

"Mrs. Crawly, we're going to need some piano lessons over here." Buster told him, quickly resolving the problem, "Please make sure either you or Layla can attend to them."

' _I'm not even in sight and I'm still volunteered.'_ I rolled my eyes. At least, it was just Johnny, and not like Mike. I climbed down from the catwalk as Mrs. Crawly instructed him to head upstairs and one of us would be up there to help him.

"I'll help him, Mrs. Crawly." I told her, "I'm not doing anything at the moment."

"Okay." She agreed, "If you need me to take over, just let me know."

"I will." I responded as I headed up the stairs to the rehearsal space Johnny was using. "So, Mrs. Crawly's a little busy at the moment, so I guess you're stuck with me."

"You play the piano?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, my parents thought I should learn an instrument." I replied simply. My mom had always loved to listen to my dad play the piano, there wasn't much of a decision on which instrument I would learn when I was given the chance to choose.

"Parents always think they know what's best for you."

"I wouldn't know." I admitted, "They died before I could find out."

I watched the expression on his face fall into one of pity and guilt. A look of penitence, sorrow, and empathy was mirrored in his eyes. There was something about the look on his face that said that he knew how it felt.

I changed the subject back to the lesson, we only had so much time for him to learn a song. "Which song do you wanna sing?"

"Well, most of the songs on this list aren't really my thing…" He replied, setting the list on the piano, "I haven't really heard half of them."

I looked through the list, they were all either love ballads or British pop songs. Maybe I should ask Buster about choosing the songs that is if we don't lose the theatre.

"Why don't we look at the songs you do know and pick a couple from those?" I suggested, "Usually I advise picking one you know well and then one you like or can relate to as your backup."

"Do I have to pick the back up now?"

I shook my head, "No, just the competition song."

"I sort of know All of Me." He responded, picking a song.

"Okay, then for today while you're working on the lyrics, I'll play the piano." I told him, "When we've got the lyrics down, I'll teach you how to play the song."

"Okay." He agreed. I pulled up the lyrics on my phone, so that he would have cheat sheet if he needed one. I was glad he chose that song, it was the only one on the list that I actually knew how to play.

"You ready?" I asked, he nodded. "Lyrics are on my phone if you need them." I told him before starting to play.

 **Mile's POV**

There wasn't much for me to do while the walls of the concessions room were drying. With Layla basically living in the Green Room, I thought it might be best to leave that room to her. I went to find Buster, see if he could find me something to do. He was in the rehearsal room with the frog group. I didn't bother to learn their names, with how much they fought, they wouldn't last in the contest for very long.

"Hey Buster-" I started to ask, but I was interrupted by five little red pandas trying to get his attention. He tried over and over and failed to persuade them to leave. From the looks of it, they didn't speak English at all.

"Miles, if you want to find something to do, get them out of here." Buster instructed. I nodded and went over to their rehearsal space. I didn't bother with telling them that they needed to leave, I picked up their portable cordless CD player and walked out the door with it. They followed me out of the rehearsal room and out of the theatre. I set the CD player on the grass by the sidewalk and went back inside. When I saw all five of them were out of the theatre, I shut the door and locked it behind me.

"They're-" I started to say to Buster as I made my way over to him as a girl walked to him.

"Hey Moon, you gave me the wrong list." She told him, "Cheesy pop's not my style."

I stared at her in awe before mentally slapping myself. I was in a relationship, given not a happy one, but that wasn't the point. I had to ignore that fact she looked like a punk rock goddess and had the voice of a sultry angel. I shook myself out of my daze and listened to the conversation between the two. He was showing her different outfits for her to wear, so she could be some type of pop princess. It was blatantly obvious she'd be the type to rock out to Cherry Bomb before singing along with Genie in Bottle, and yet he expected her to wear a frilly dress and sing generic radio pop songs. Just as she was about to dismiss the dress he had been currently holding, all of the lights in the theatre shut off.

 _'_ _What the hell is going on here?'_ I thought perplexed.

 **Layla's POV**

"And to think I just fixed the stage lights…" I sighed as I ceased playing. There was no point in playing if I couldn't see the keys.

"Any idea what's with the lights?"

"No, not a one." I replied quickly, "Not a clue."

We headed down to see what was going on; I already had an idea, but it was better not to give the hint off about the financial state the theatre was in than say something about it.

"We will continue to rehearse in the dark." Buster told everyone.

"What?" The girl porcupine asked.

"We can't see anything." Rosita agreed. Gunther pulled out a glowstick to try to ease her nerves and turned it on. Buster sent us all back to work and left.

"You go back up, I'll be right there." I told Johnny, who nodded and went back upstairs.

Miles and I followed Buster to his office.

"What are we going to do, Buster?" I asked him, "We can't have them work in the dark and you know as well as I do why the power's out."

"I know." Buster sighed.

"What's going on here?"

"Bank's about to shut us down and the electric company cut the power for not pay the last bill or two." I explained simply.

"Three." Buster corrected.

"You know we could just borrow the power." I smirked to Buster as an idea started to form in my mind. He shared the smirk, immediately knowing where I was coming from.

"What do you mean borrow the power?" Miles asked a little slow on the uptake, "To get enough to run this-" He started before it dawned on him, "That's stealing."

"No, it's borrowing without asking." I corrected.

"That's basically the definition of stealing." He responded.

"No, the definition of stealing is taking without permission." I smiled, noticing Buster had already made his way out the window.

"Buster's about to take power from another building and you want to argue with me about semantics?" Miles asked.

"No, I just wanted to keep you distracted while he made his way out the window." I told him, nodding to the open window. Miles looked down and then to the window shocked that Buster had actually went through with it. A few minutes later, an extension cord divided the office knocking us both on our asses and the lights went back on.


	5. Chapter 5: Nothin' But a Good Time

**AN: Hey everyone, thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **The lyrics that are used in the song was inspired by Brian Crain's A Simple Life:**

 **watch?v=FmibIs3Io78**

 **If you would like to listen to the song as the lyrics play, she would start singing at 1:13 into the song.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Five: Nothin' but a Good Time**

After the lights went back on, I popped my head into Johnny's rehearsal room to see how he was doing with his song. Mrs. Crawly was sitting with him teaching him how to play the song on the piano, I smiled to myself, seeing that he was doing well and went to go find Buster. He never came back through the window and I'd rather not have my only family, well not incarcerated family, left.

When I found him, he was standing into the middle of the stage talking to Meena, who I was happy to see had decided to come back.

"Stagehand?" I heard her ask Buster confused from the doorway of the side exits of the stage closest to the rehearsal spaces.

"Don't worry about it, you're gonna pick it up in no time." Buster replied, skipping over the fact that she would have a chance to actually sing if she did this, "Layla and I will teach you everything we know." He ran through the exit door to the rehearsal area, "Thanks Layla," He said in acknowledgement, "You two have met, right?"

"We have." I nodded, and then looked up at Meena, "It's nice to see you again, Meena. I'm glad you came back."

"Layla, can you show her the ropes?" Buster asked.

I looked down at Buster, "I'm free at the moment, sure."

"Great!" Buster exclaimed as he ran up the stairs to his office, "I'm sure you both will do a great job."

 _'_ _Well, at least it's good to know he's skeptical about Miles too.'_ I thought as I watched him go into his office.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yeah." I replied without missing a beat, "He's always running from one place to another, you'll get used to it. You're probably going to be working more with me or Miles anyway, a little with Mrs. Crawly depending what she needs, while everyone is rehearsing, and then after everyone is gone, if you don't mind sparing an hour or two after rehearsals every day, we can work on your songs for the contest."

"M-my songs?" Meena stuttered.

"When I talked to Buster, he agreed if you worked on the show and if we needed another act, you could be in the show." I told her, "But we can talk about that later when everyone's gone, for now, let's focus on getting you acquainted with the theatre."

"Okay." She agreed.

"What you see in front of you are the rehearsal spaces, each one is slightly different for each performer depending on their needs." I informed, pointed in the general vicinity of each of the rooms, "Up the stairs are the workshops and the main office." I added, and then pointed to left of the stage entrance, "If you go down that hall way and to the right is the back entrance to the concessions room and the green room is next door to that." I then pointed to the right of the stage entrance, "If you follow that hallway, it'll take you behind the stage area to the dressing rooms. If you get lost in the theatre, message me and either Miles or I will come and get you."

"Miles?"

It had just dawned on me that I hadn't mentioned who Miles was; it didn't occur to me to explain since we didn't usually have new people on crew or tech, "He's a porcupine little taller than Buster, works as a stagehand. When he's not busy, you'll probably see him on the drums. Buster gives us free access to anything in the theatre."

"This place is awesome." Meena stated taking it all in.

"Awesome?" Mike scoffed as he came down the stairs, "The word you're after is awful and that's me restraining myself." He started to run past us, "There's not an ounce of talent between them, none of 'em." He turned to face us, "But you know what, that prize is as good as mine already." He ran off.

"I'm getting' really sick of that rodent's attitude." I rolled my eyes, and then changed the subject back to the task at hand, "Let's get to work, we only have so much time before we actually have to start helping the acts. We've got three weeks before tech week, unless Buster decides to push up the show ahead a bit for a preview for a sponsor."

"What do we do if that happens?"

"Then you follow my lead, and if I'm up on the catwalk, then you'll work with Miles or help Mrs. Crawly." I answered, "We wouldn't leave you on your own before you're ready."

 **Miles' POV**

Layla spent the rest of the afternoon with the new stagehand while I worked on the green room, might was well take the time to work on it when she's not in there. I would have worked on the dressing rooms, but without knowing which one Layla used as her room, it would have been an invasion of privacy. I spent the rest of the afternoon into evening putting a new coat of paint on. They had let it go after they had gotten the smoke and fire damage off the walls. After I finished, I grabbed my stuff that I had left by the stairs leading up to the main office and headed out the door only to run into the rock goddess.

"Hey." She nodded, "You heading out too?"

"Uh yeah, just finished for the day." I replied, not really knowing what to say to her.

"Are you performing too?" She asked as we headed down the sidewalk.

I shook my head, "I'm working as a stagehand for the theatre. Singing's really not my thing, I'm a drummer."

She smiled, "That's awesome; do you have a favorite?"

"Drummer?" I clarified, to which she gave me a pointed look, I smirked, "Just wanted to make sure. John Bonham, Gene Krupa, and Buddy Rich." I changed the subject to her, I was more interested in her story than talking about my own, "How long you been playing the guitar?"

"Since I was kid, my dad gave me the option of either learning an instrument or taking ballet." She replied, "I asked him to take me to the closest music store and I picked out my first guitar. What about you?"

"I was eleven and joined my middle school's jazz band, I've been hooked ever since."

"Have you ever thought of joining a band?" She asked, "My boyfriend, Lance, and I have been looking for bandmates."

"My girlfriend, Becky, wants to." I told her, might as well be honest about having a girlfriend, there was no reason to hide it. "She's gotten in touch with a lead or base guitarist who is looking to start a band."

"Well, if that doesn't work out, let me know." She replied, "Maybe we can talk."

"I'd like that." I agreed and we went our separate ways, her to the train station and me towards my apartment.

When I opened the door to the apartment, I found Becky on the couch with the guitarist. I shut the door quietly, I wasn't going to give them easy route of hearing the door slam and have them stop what they're doing. I took out my phone and silently took a couple of pictures of them, while they were immersed in each other, it'd be my blackmail if she refused to move out. I went over to the couch and leaned against the opposite side of the one they were busy on, "How's band practice going?" I asked smirking. I wasn't happy about the fact that she was cheating and that I caught her, but I already thought she was. I was happy because I could finally get her out of my life for a better reason other than I was starting to find her annoying and I wasn't in love with her.

They quickly separated from each other and stared at me shocked.

"I want you out of my apartment now." I told them soundly, they didn't move, so I tried a different tactic, I showed them one of the pictures. "Leave now and I'll consider not having this go viral." I looked over at the dude, "Would you really want your girlfriend finding out over the internet from a random dude, who happens to be dating the girl you're cheating with, that you're cheating on her?"

"What makes you think I have a girlfriend?" He challenged.

"Guys like you always have a girlfriend." I stated, and then reiterated, "Leave. Both of you."

"I live here." Becky argued.

"Not anymore." I stated, and then added, "When was the last time your full rent?"

She remained silent.

"Get out of my apartment." I told them calmly.

"C'mon Lance, we can find somewhere else to go." Becky got up off the couch and the dude got up after her and they went out the door.

"I'll mail your stuff to you." I closed the door after them, and then it hit me, "Did she just call him Lance?"

 **Layla's POV**

"Okay, now that we're done here, why don't we work on some music?" I asked Meena after I finished showing her how to work the stage curtains and the different parts of the stage.

"I don't really sing much in front of others." She replied sheepishly.

"I thought you might say that." I told her, "So, I thought if I could show you something I was shy about and didn't show others, maybe you would sing something, even if it was just a few bars, for me."

"I could try." She hesitantly agreed.

"Follow me." I lead her down to the orchestra pit. "This is the sanctuary for the shy. Even if you stand, the wall will always be taller than you are, unless you're a giraffe." I sat down at the piano, "I've always found it easier to work new things down here, especially if I need the piano." I started to play with the keys, "I've been working on this for the past couple of days, it's not very good, but I like it and it helped when I wrote it." I started to play the melody of the song, _"Let it rain,_

 _Let it fall,_

 _Let this storm_

 _Go on and on,_

 _I don't wanna care_

 _Don't let this stop_

 _Till it floods all over us._

 _What you say,_

 _What you do_

 _Just let it flood_

 _All over you_

 _Let it fall,_

 _Let this love_

 _Grow strong,_

 _Though people say_

 _It's wrong._

 _We can't stop this storm_

 _As much as we can stop_

 _What we feel_

 _There's no way_

 _To deny either – we know._

 _We see every problem_

 _Here we stay_

 _And here we stand though._

 _"Why do you listen_

 _Why do you care?_

 _Why do you let them_

 _Bother you?"_

 _I don't know_

 _What to think_

 _Anymore_

 _As I watch you_

 _Walk out the door._

 _What they say,_

 _What they do_

 _Just pours_

 _Right out of you_

 _There's nothing I can do,_

 _Nothing I can say_

 _As the rain stops_

 _And tears fall down my face._

 _I hope it rains._

 _I hope it fucking falls._

 _I hope a storm_

 _Crashes down_

 _And pours upon us all._

 _I'm not gonna care_

 _Let the rain_

 _Wipe it all away._

 _Just let it rain_

 _Let it fall._

 _With every tear_

 _That falls from my face._

 _We can't stop the rain,_

 _You can't stop what you feel,_

 _I can't stop these tears from falling,_

 _As much as I could stop_

 _A storm from pouring_

 _Or a hurricane from coming,_

 _What a mess…_

 _We should have listened_

 _To every problem,_

 _Every reason to go._

 _Maybe we wouldn't be here,_

 _Maybe we wouldn't have been_

 _In this mess at all._ _"_ I ended the song and turned around to face her, "It's not much and it's not very good. It's really kind of a mess, but when I'm down here, I don't have to worry about that. There's no judgement down here."

"Do you know how to play Hallelujah?" She asked after a few moments.

"It's one of my favorites." I nodded and started to play.

 **Buster's POV**

"Mr. Moon, I have Judith from the bank-" I heard Mrs. Crawly start to say pulling me out of my thoughts. The last thing I need a call from her tonight. I slid down the ladder to my desk chair and turned to face her.

"Woah, no, no, tell her I'll call her back in the morning." I objected.

"I did." Mrs. Crawly answered, "She and her associate are right here."

Judith poked her head in the doorway and then walked inside the office.

"Judith!" I greeted her shocked, "Hello."

"Mr. Moon." She nodded cross and then looked behind her, "Miss Greyson, please come in here."

A female koala followed her in, holding a stack of files, "Yes, Judith."

"The files, Miss Greyson." Judith commanded. Miss Greyson quickly handed her the files and she looked through them. "The three of us have much to discuss, Mr. Moon." Judith told me, "Come along, I don't wish to be here longer than I have to be that is what Miss Greyson is here for." She walked out of the office, Miss Greyson and I followed her out.

"I work for a bank, not a charity." Judith stated when we finally caught up with her "If your accounts aren't settled by the end of the month-"

"Judith, I personally guarantee by the end of this month, this show is going to be the biggest hit this city has ever seen." I implored as I followed her out of the theatre and down the sidewalk.

She turned around, "Mr. Moon, none of your shows have ever work. None of them!"

"I liked the last couple…" Miss Greyson spoke up sheepishly, "And it's expensive to go to the theatre these days…"

"When I want your opinion, Miss Greyson, I will ask for it." Judith told her pointedly. Miss Greyson looked down sadly. Judith turned back to me, "Settle your accounts, Mr. Moon, or we will repossess this property." She walked off.

"Mr. Moon…" Miss Greyson walked over to me, "I apologize for Judith, she's always like that." She paused for a moment as I turned to face her. "My name's Heather Greyson, I'm from the bank… Judith wanted me to keep an eye on your progress in making the payment." She looked up at me. Her eyes were a pretty sea blue color, a color you didn't see often for koalas. "I-I personally like your plays. I've seen most of them a-and I want to help, I don't want to see this theatre repossessed."

"Thank you, Miss Greyson."

"Please call me Heather."

"Only, if you call me Buster."

"It's nice to meet you, Buster." She held out her hand.

I took it, "You as well, Heather."

"I have to go home, but I'll be back tomorrow morning and we can start talking finances and how I can help."

"I'll see you in the morning then." I nodded awkwardly.

"I really do want to help." She told me.

"Thank you."

She smiled softly and left.

"What are you going to do, Mr. Moon?" Mrs. Crawly asked.

"I don't know." I replied honestly.


	6. Chapter 6: Steal Your Heart Away

**AN: Hello everyone, thank you to everyone who has favorited and reviewed the story. This chapter is probably the first of at least a few deviations in the story from the movie. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Chapter Six: Steal Your Heart Away**

 **Layla's POV**

"What do you mean we have a woman from the bank watching us?" I asked after Buster finished explaining his meeting with Judith last night. "What is she a vulture? Is she going to be circling us? You're not giving me much to work with here."

"She's not a vulture, she's a koala." Buster corrected, "Her name is Heather Greyson and she's gonna be going over our finances and advise on how we can make improvements. She's actually a fan of the theatre and would like to help."

"Really?" I asked amused by how quick he was to defend her, "She pretty?"

"I don't know." He replied flustered, "I guess."

"Who knows, it might be nice to see you around someone your age." I mulled, "You spend a little too much time with Eddie. I mean if you're interested in pursuing that type of relationship with him, I'm happy for you, but I don't really know how the height difference would work. He's at least three and half or four feet taller than you, and would that even work?" When I looked down, he was pinching the bridge of his nose with the 'I'm not hearing her say this' expression written all over his face. It was an expression I had seen a lot growing up.

"I swear you are going to send me to an early grave." He groaned, rubbing his temples.

"You know you love me, Buster."

"Let's get to work, Layla." He said after a few moments.

"Okay." I nodded and then left to unlock the auditorium doors. I didn't think Buster would say it, he wasn't really one to express that much emotion. I didn't know if he was comfortable with it, something told me he did though or at least he might. I don't think he would have kept me around longer than he had to if he didn't. To be fair, I didn't tell him either.

 **Miles' POV**

As I walked to the theatre that morning, I was plagued by thoughts. I couldn't sleep after I found out who that dude was and what he did to the rock goddess. I should really learn her name. I bet it's something like Phoenix or Scarlett, that'd be awesome, but until I do, it's the rock goddess. I was conflicted on whether I should tell her, would she even believe me if I did? And was it really right to show her the pictures I had? And she hardly knew me, why would she believe a random stranger telling her that her boyfriend's cheating on her? But it wasn't right not to tell her. She needed to know about that two-timing dick. She needed to know she deserved better. I had to tell her, but I couldn't. It wasn't my place, but he's not gonna tell her, I used telling his girlfriend in the most public way possible to get him out of my apartment. Not that I would do that now, I couldn't do that to her. Especially, not since I know her. I may not know her name, but I've met her.

"What the hell am I supposed to say to her?" I pondered aloud as I walked into the Moon Theatre, "Hey, I know we've never officially met, but my name's Miles, I think you're a rock goddess, and your boyfriend's cheating on you. I found him with my now ex-girlfriend last night. I threatened him with going viral with the truth to get him out of my apartment."

"I don't know who you're talking to, Miles, but I would leave out the going viral part." I heard Layla call out.

"Where are you?" I asked her as I walked down the aisle.

"Orchestra pit." She answered, "Thought I'd take the time to write. The rock goddess, as you like to call her, is named Ash."

I went down the orchestra pit and sat in the chair next to her, "So what do you think I should say?"

"What do you think she should know?" She questioned in return.

"Her boyfriend's cheating on her and the only reason I know why is I happened to have been dating the girl."

"Why don't you build upon that," She advised, "if you choose to tell her, that's probably something you should start with and worry about the rest later."

"Should I tell her when she comes in?" I asked, "Should I tell her later?"

"In all honesty, I shouldn't know as much as I do about this situation." She replied plainly, standing, "But if you want my advice, don't do it with people around if you do tell her and I don't know if it would be better for her to hear it or to find out on her own. I will say, if I had someone who cared about me enough to warn me if I had a boyfriend who was cheating on me…" She paused, "I think I'd appreciate it eventually." She left shortly after to get the stage ready for whoever needed it today.

"I need to tell her." I sighed, "She has to know." I stood and went back outside of the theatre to wait for Ash.

 **Heather's POV**

I wanted to arrive at the Moon Theatre as early as I possibly could this morning. Well, I wasn't that early since I had to go to the bank and pick up all of the paperwork I had on the theatre before Judith came in. I didn't need to be accosted or lectured this morning, especially not since I was actually happy about doing work today. I hadn't been happy about working in a long time. Being able to do work for the Moon Theatre was like a dream, I used to go all the time as a kid and now I get to see the entire theatre and do its finances!

I was able to arrive before the performers, so right now that was early enough for me to find my way around and hopefully find my way up to the main office again without getting lost.

"Now was it straight, two rights, a left, and up the stairs or straight, two lefts, a right, and up the stairs?" I asked myself. I had followed Judith, I didn't remember where it was. Although, if I wandered around the theatre till I found the stairs, I'd get to the main office. That works, I know the main office is up a staircase backstage. This way I get to see more of the theatre without it feeling like a guided tour.

 **Miles' POV**

Ash arrived a few minutes after the koala lady went into the theatre. I took a deep breath and walked up to her.

"Hey, I'm Miles, I don't know if you remember, but we talking yesterday-"

"You're a drummer, looking at possibly starting a band." She nodded in recognition, "Did you think about joining mine and Lance's band?"

"I think your fantastic guitarist." I told her, knowing that this was going to be even more difficult than I thought it would be, not that I thought it'd be easy to begin with. "You're so talented and deserve so much better than Lance."

"You haven't even met him." She retorted. I did not start this off right, but she needed to know.

"I don't want to be the one to tell you this because you seem really nice." I started again, "But Lance is cheating on you and the only reason why I know is because he happened to be cheating on you with my girlfriend. Well, she used be my girlfriend, I broke up with her when I kicked both of them out of my apartment."

"Look, I'm sorry about your girlfriend, but my boyfriend wouldn't do that to me." She replied pointedly, "Lance is a common name, he could have been a different guy." She brushed past me and went inside.

"Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut."

 **Layla's POV**

I watched the koala lady, whom I could only guess was Miss Heather Greyson, walk around the theatre from the production booth for a while. I couldn't tell if she was lost or merely entranced by the theatre. She kept on gawking, it was actually kind of funny. I couldn't decide whether or not I should help her out and show her where Buster's office was. I will admit though she was getting warmer, she was around the stage. If she went up the steps next to the stage, took a right, went through the stage door, and up the stairs, she'd get to the office. I sat back in the chair, she'd figure it out. She seemed with it enough. I looked down at my watch, I still had time before I had to do anything. Mike had his stage time today after everyone got in, I didn't really want to be here for him. For someone so small, his attitude was exponential. Although, his routine was so simple and Buster, Meena, and Mrs. Crawly would all be standing there. I could focus on other contestants who needed or could use more attention.

I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out of my jeans pocket. I looked down at the phone, I had a message from Miles. I didn't know I kept his number, usually I delete numbers I don't talk to.

 ** _'_** ** _I'm going home.'_** I read, **_'Telling her didn't go so well. I'd rather not hang around and be awkward.'_**

 ** _'_** ** _Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get in here.'_** I typed back and sent it. If he didn't want to be around Ash, fine, he could work with Pete and the frogs while I worked with Johnny and Gunther and Rosita. That wasn't a problem and he wasn't going to make it into one.

 **Heather's POV**

It took me almost a half an hour to find the main office, although that was mostly because I couldn't help but take in the magnificence of the theatre. I couldn't figure out how anyone could be around this place and not fall in love with it. There was a certain ambience that just oozed romance and desire of grandeur.

When I walked into Buster's office, I closed the door behind me. His head shot up at the sound of the door, he smiled softly and closed the manila folder that he'd been looking through.

"Heather, it's good to see you." Buster greeted.

"Thanks." I smiled back, "I would have come up earlier, but I got a little lost, literally and figuratively actually. This theatre is amazing."

"It is." He agreed.

"I would hate to see you lose it." I continued, "So that's why I'm going to need you to be honest with me." I pulled out the account folder I had for the Moon Theatre and the $100,000 competition poster that I'd been hiding from Judith for the past couple of days as far as she knew the prize money was only one percent of that. "A hundred thousand is a lot of money and it creates a lot of interest in the show, but if you had that type of money to spare, you would have paid off of your debts and loans." I stated, it was the only logical thing to do. "You don't have this, do you?" I asked holding up the poster. He avoided my gaze. "Please Buster, I want to help you; do you have the prize money?"

He sighed, "No, no, I don't."

"So, what happened?"

"It was an accident." He answered and then started to explain about the poster and how he found out. I sat and listened to his story, maybe there was a way we could figure out how to get the prize money and repay all of the debts that the theatre had obtained over the past few years. When he finished, I bit my lip and mulled over the situation at hand.

After a few moments, I replied, "We'll have to talk ticket prices and concession prices, they'll have to be more expensive than going to the movie theater, but not as outrageous as going to a theatre with a successful reputation." I winced when I realized how harsh and rude that that sounded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, no, you're right." He stopped me, "The theatre hasn't done well, but this show could change things."

"Then you'll need to find other ways of funding." I told him, "The bank's not going to help you, you're going to need a sponsor or some shareholders for the theatre. You need financial security, some way to insure this place before it's taken away."


	7. Chapter 7: Hold On Loosely

**AN: So a couple of things. This chapter is mostly focused on Johnny and Layla Thought it might be fun to have a chapter that's almost full devoted to them. This chapter is out about a week earlier than I expected it to be. My goal is to have at least one to two chapters out each week. It depends on how busy I am. Usually they'll come out on the weekends since I work through the week. If I don't update one week, it's most likely because I'm either busy or updating on of the other stories that I have up.**

 **There is a scene in here that borrowed and somewhat tweaked from 10 Things I Hate About You to fit LA and the film Sing. I don't own that 10 Things I Hate About You or Sing.**

 **If you have any questions about the story or characters, please feel free to message me. I'm pretty good at responding quickly.**

 **Thank you to those who have favorited and followed me, the story, or both, and thank you to those who review. I love reading them.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **Chapter Seven: Hold on Loosely**

 **Layla's POV**

When everyone arrived, we all split up to go about our different jobs. With Buster and Mrs. Crawley staying with Meena while Mike was using his stage time, Miles and I didn't see a reason to stick around. After a couple of hours, we didn't see a reason to stick together. Miles went down to help the frog trio, while I stayed upstairs with Johnny. I had no clue what he was going to help a boyband, but better him than me.

"Okay, you're doing fine with the song, but I'm not buying that you actually feel what you're singing." I told him after he played the song.

"Okay." He replied unsurely.

"This is a love song, to convey it you have to feel it with everything you have and everything you want for it to believable." I replied as I pulled a print out of the lyrics that I had gotten this morning with all of the notes that I had written on the song out of my bag that I had next to the piano and placed it on the music stand. I then shifted in my seat on the bench so I could face him. "Have you ever been in love?"

"No." He admitted as he turned to face me.

"What about a date?"

He looked down, "It's been a while."

"Okay," I nodded, and got up, "C'mon, we're gonna take a break." I walked over to the door, when I looked back, he was still sitting at the piano, but not he had a confused expression written all over his face. "Let's go, you're gonna need some real world experience if you're going since this song."

He stood from the bench hesitantly, piecing what was happening together, "Wait are you asking me on a date?"

"No." I stated, walking back to him, "I'm telling you that we're going on a break, you've been focusing on the technical aspects of this song too much. You can sing it and you're getting closer to being able to play it, but it's not quite connecting. That's something I don't believe Buster would notice, but he also doesn't think like an artist." I held out my hand to him. It's not like having lunch with the guy was going to change anything between the two of us, "I'm not gonna bite, Johnny. It's just lunch, we're just going to talk."

"Okay." He agreed taking my hand. I pulled him up and then let go of his hand. We left the theatre.

 **Heather's POV**

I watched from the auditorium as Mike, a little white mouse who sang jazz, performed. It was obvious that he went to a conservatory and was a trained singer. He would be better though, if he wasn't so cocky. It's almost like he thought he was god's gift to music, but he was a showman, I'll give him that. If he flashed me one more of those 'I walk on water' looks, I'll see to it he never gets a loan again. His song was going well though. This was the second time he had gone through it and they were playing around with the set and the lighting behind him. Halfway through the song, a light fixture crashed on to the stage, which sent Mike flying forward. When he regained his composure, he started to yell at one of the stagehands, Meena, who was trying to defend herself against his outrage. Mike didn't get his chance to accost her for very long, since an electrical fire erupted from the broken light fixture. Meena quickly went to put it out. In the rush and chaos of everything, one of the contestants, Pete, was rushed to the hospital because of a head injury, and the frog trio, whose names I had already forgotten, walked out of the theatre. Their group had broken up. In all honesty, good riddance. If I had to listen to another cover of a one direction song, I think I'll start ripping my fur out.

"Okay, I know we lost two acts, Heather but I have a plan and this-" Buster started to say as he rushed over to me nervously. He was still slightly on edge since I worked for the bank, I wished he wasn't, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"Buster, it's alright." I put my hand on his, "Losing Pete and the boyband wasn't your fault. Pete had a head injury and the boyband broke up. As long as you can replace the acts, I think you should be in good shape."

"I will." He nodded, "I am." He went up on stage to his stagehand, Meena, and his assistant, Mrs. Crawly, "Okay, we're two acts down. Give me some good news, Mrs. Crawly."

"It's not as bad as it looks-" She started to replied, but the stage giving way interrupted her mid-sentence. Buster and Meena helped her out of the hole in stage.

"Miles!" Buster called for one of his other stagehands. Miles, a porcupine boy, rushed on stage; his eyes widened when he saw the hole in the stage.

"I'll fix it." He told him quickly.

Buster nodded and then turned to Meena and asked, "Meena, how would you like to re-audition for the show?"

After going back and forth for a bit, she ended up turning down the offer because of her shyness. She was able to sing, but due to stage fright, she couldn't sing in front of others.

"I'm gonna take that as a maybe." He told her a few minutes after he finished and then asked, "Have any of you seen Layla?"

They all looked at each other and then looked to Buster. Miles was the first to speak, "She isn't here, neither is Johnny."

"They left a little over an hour ago." Meena added.

"What?" Buster replied.

 **Layla's POV**

"So it's been me and Buster ever since." I finished. He had told me his story about him and his dad, so I had told him about me and Buster. It was only fair to exchange one life story for another.

At first, this outing had been just to get him out of his head space, so that when he went back and sang the song, he would look at song in another way. I don't know what happened during lunch, we started talking while we ate, and then lunch led to walking around Echo Park Lake. Johnny was a nice guy with a good sense of humor; he was everything Alex wasn't, and for someone who hardly knew me, he also likes me as person more than Alex ever did. And he listened! He listened when I talked to him, it's been so long since I had a guy my age that who listened to me when I talked. It was nice, new, but nice.

"Have you ever tried one of those things?" I asked distracted by the boats as we passed them.

"Yeah, my mum used to take me out on them when I was a kid." He replied looking down at the boats, "Do you want to rent one?"

"Can we?" I smiled excitedly.

"Yeah." He nodded, "I'll get the boat since you got lunch."

"But lunch was just-"

"Lunch was great." Johnny spoke up, "Let me get this one."

Lunch had been Veggie Grill, we each got veggie burgers and fries and iced tea. Both of us deciding it was a little too early in the day to drink. He got a black tea, while I had gotten a pomegranate green tea. We got dessert too, but at Icy Rush instead of Veggie Grill. We both tried the nondairy based ice creams or sorbets, I'm not exactly sure what they were. I got a pina colada and he got a lime flavor. We had been eating them as we walked around the park. Well, he had been eating, I had been talking mostly. I don't know what was going on, there was something about him that made him easy to talk to.

When Johnny came back, we went and took boat and went out on the lake. After a while, Johnny spoke up.

"So what's your excuse?" He asked.

"For what?" I replied confused.

"For acting the way we do." Johnny clarified, "Like the way I am with my dad and you with the theatre."

"I don't like to do what people expect." I shrugged, "Why should I live up to other's expectations instead of my own?"

"So you disappoint 'em from the start and then you're covered, right?"

"Something like that." I nodded.

"Then you screwed up." He replied.

"How?"

"You never disappointed me." He responded, and then looked out on the lake. I looked down, the response was pretty good. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. He spoke up again after a few moments, "You up for it?"

"Up for what?" I asked him, looking up. He pointed to the paintball area.

"Oh yeah." I nodded.

We pedaled the boat back to the dock and then went over to the paintball area.

 **Buster's POV**

"Have they come back yet, Miles?" I asked him after I accidently drove away the red panda girls. He gave me a sheepish nervous smile, which gave me my answer. No, they hadn't come back yet. This wasn't like her. I mean she went out and ran errands for the theatre all of the time, but she always told me she was heading out. I knew she was an adult, but that didn't make me less of a parent, well guardian, well I wasn't exactly sure what I was. I never actually legally adopted her, but she was left in my care, so doesn't that make me her parent in a way?

"Just send her up to my office when they get back." I told him before he had a chance to reply. I went to go check on how Ash was doing with her song.

 **Layla's POV**

Okay, I'll admit it, the paintball was the best idea either one of us had had all afternoon. Once we had suited up and got out bags of paintballs, we ran around the area throwing paintballs at each other. After a couple of hours, we ended up crashing next to a bale of hay. Both of us out of breath and staring at one another.

"We should go back to the theatre." I told him snapping out of whatever the hell was going on between the two of us.

"Uh, yeah, right." He replied, nodding in agreement.

We got up and went to change out of the suits that were now covered in different colored paint splotches. After we changed, we walked back to the Moon Theatre.

"I had a good time." Johnny commented as we approached the theatre.

"So did I." I agreed.

"Maybe we could do it again sometime." He suggested.

"Maybe." I responded as we went inside. I watched him go up to his rehearsal space outside of the main office.

"Where have you been?" Miles asked, pulling me aside, "Why do you have paint in your fur?"

"Went out for a bit." I replied simply.

"No shit." He responded, "Where did you go?"

"Echo Lake Park…"

"Okay, well I wouldn't tell Buster that you took a contestant from his rehearsal to go out on a date with him."

"It wasn't a date." I responded quickly, "He needed a break, so I took him to lunch."

"Were you attacked by painters during lunch?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, we stumbled across the paintball field."

"I'd leave that part out too when you end up talking to Buster."

"Was he looking for me, Miles?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded.

"He say anything?"

"Only to tell you to go up to his office when you came back."

 **Johnny's POV**

I sat down at the piano, still thinking about that moment in the hay at the paintball park. If she hadn't spoken up, I would have kissed her. There was something about her. I liked her, I knew that much. There had been something about her since we first met that just stuck with me. I pulled out the song again and started to play. I kept messing up one of the chords though. I banged the keys and groaned.

"Yes, that was very bad." Mrs. Crawly commented as she poured herself some coffee. I looked back at her, not expecting her comment. Before I could reply, the walkie-talkie that I had in my jacket went off. It had been silent all day, I had forgotten that I still had it on me.

 _"_ _Johnny…Johnny…Over…"_

"Oh, Johnny, your jacket's talking." Mrs. Crawly told me.

 _"_ _Johnny…Where are ya?"_

I rushed over to my jacket and grabbed the walkie-talkie out of the side pocket.

"Dad, what's going on?" I asked him in a hushed tone. He started explaining about the practicing for the heist and how I was needed there as soon as possible since I was the getaway driver. I threw on my jacket and ran down the stairs, passing Buster on my way down.

"I'm sorry Buster, but I have to go."

"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean you've gotta leave now?" Buster asked as stopped at the top of the stairs, turning back to face me.

"I know, I'm so sorry." I apologized again, "It's just I've got this family business thing."

"Do I have to start worrying about your commitment here, Johnny?" He asked. I looked back at him shocked. "Please tell me no."

"No, absolutely not." I assured him, "I promise it won't happen again."

"It better not." Buster responded, turning to go up to his office.

"Thank you, Mr. Moon." I said gratefully before running out of the theatre.

 **Buster's POV**

When I walked into my office, Layla was sitting in my office.

"I see you finally decided to come back." I noted still slightly annoyed.

"Hi Buster." She greeted innocently, "How have rehearsals been going today?"

"You would know if you were actually here." I pointed out, sitting at my desk, "Where were you and Johnny?"

"We went to get some food and walked around for a while after." She answered, "He was over analyzing the technical aspects of the song, he needed a break so he could look at it through a different angle, so he could understand and feel how emotional the song is."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense to me."

"If you want to go out with Johnny, do it in his free time." I told her, "Not during his rehearsal."

"I wasn't going out with him." She argued, "That wasn't the point of taking him away from rehearsal. Sometimes you have to step away from a piece and come back to it to get a better look at the song."

"Do that on his free time, Layla." I reiterated sternly.

She left without another word, shutting the door behind her.

 **Ash's POV**

When I got home I was beat, this was not what I had been expecting when I agreed to do this show. That song was the most annoying song I had ever heard and my chance at $100,000 was riding on me preforming it without losing my mind in the process. I would have rather played any of the songs that were on the albums that were left in my rehearsal space, whoever left those understood the type of music I would have rather have performed. I opened the door to my apartment with a groan, "Baby, I'm back." I called to Lance, shutting the door behind me. I leaned my guitar case against the wall and threw my keys on the table. Something caught me off guard, I heard music. It would have caught me off guard if it was just Lance, but it didn't sound like it was. I went inside the living room to see what was going on to see Lance with another girl. My jaw dropped slightly at the sight.

"What is going on here?" I asked Lance annoyed.

"Hi, I'm Becky." The girl introduced herself. That name registered with me, Miles. His girlfriend was named Becky and here she was with Lance, and I didn't believe him. He warned me and I was foolish enough to not believe him.

"Becky?" I glared when everything registered. I looked at Lance as if to demand an answer, but he had that deer caught in the headlights look that he always did when he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been. I pushed them out the door and slammed it shut when Lance tried to start defend himself. I didn't want to hear any excuses about how I wasn't around for him anymore or if that bitch left her sunglasses in the apartment, and then slumped down to the floor feeling like such a fool.


	8. Chapter 8: Pieces

**AN: Hello everyone, I know this is coming out a little later than usual, but this chapter is much longer than the others. It's about 38 pages in Word. There's quite a bit in here for people who like Buster and Heather and there's a little bit in here for those who like Layla and Johnny. There's also a huge surprise or two about Heather's backstory.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to** **Dantekassaki. Thank you for your help and I hope I was able to do your friend some justice in the way he's been portrayed.**

 **Also, thank you to VickyT36, who gave me of a suggestion for Eddie and Buster, which I did play around with a couple of times in this chapter.**

 **I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.**

 ** _'We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.' - Orson Welles_**

 ** _'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.' - Lao Tzu_**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Eight: Pieces**

 **Heather's POV**

"So did you find a sponsor?" I asked as we headed out to dinner.

"I did, I just have to talk to her." Buster nodded, "It's not guaranteed that she'll provide the money, but there's a chance."

"That's good." I smiled encouragingly, "What about the acts?"

"I've possibly replaced one of them, and if Layla agrees to sing, I might have a replacement for both of them."

"Layla?" I asked slightly confused. I had heard her name earlier, but I had yet to meet her. I had met Miles, Mrs. Crawly, Meena, and had seen all of the contestants, except for one, but I hadn't met Layla yet.

"She's my daughter." He replied, but then backtracked, "Well kind of, her parents were very close friends of mine, they died when she was a child and she was left in my care. She works in the theatre. You haven't met her because she left the theatre early today."

"Oh." I replied, not knowing what to say. It was easy to tell by the look in his eyes how much he cared about her and how much he had missed the friends he had lost. "Hopefully, I'll get to meet her tomorrow."

"You should." He replied, his normal jovial tone slightly coming back to his voice, "She should be in all day tomorrow."

"I can't wait to meet her."

"Speaking of tomorrow, would you be willing to come with me to talk to the sponsor?"

"M-me?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah." He said, "I thought maybe you'd want to come. You could be helpful since I've never really gone after a sponsor and you're so good with your words."

"Am I?" I asked unsure, no one had ever complimented me on that before. Usually my existence at work was to be Judith's go-for – you know go for coffee, go for files, go for anything she doesn't want to bother doing herself – or her emotional punching bag when something wasn't going her way, or someone to vent at, refusing to take advise when it was offered to her. Not that I gave her any anymore, I learned that lesson the hard way. "Cause sometimes I feel like I don't know what I'm doing or if anyone understands me."

"Me." Buster said, taking my hand and turning me to look at him, "I get you, Heather. You make perfect sense to me."

"I do?"

"You do to me." He reassured.

"Thank you, Buster." I smiled bashfully before we continued to walk to the restaurant, Crossroads, hand in hand.

Crossroads was a lovely little Mediterranean restaurant, which happened to be pretty expensive. So expensive that they didn't show prices on their menus, but this was my treat for Buster. I could more than afford it, and even to say that would be an understatement on my financial status. Even to say I had money would be an understatement.

I've always believed everyone has one secret that they don't tell others unless it was absolutely necessary. My vast wealth was mine, well mine and a bank in a little town in Virginia that most wouldn't even recognize the name of it unless they lived there themselves. I was the only child of only children, whose parents were both extremely wealthy and from old money. When they died, I, to my dismay in some regards, inherited everything. The day after everything was signed and processed, I moved from Virginia to California. Three thousand miles was the closest I could think of moving away were I could start anew. I took my time and got a degree in business while working at a coffee shop on the side. I remember being so excited when I got that first little paycheck because I earned it. I had never been so ecstatic about anything up until that point. After college, I got an earnest job at the bank and a small but nice apartment, which I do happen to pay for with my inheritance, but it would be hard to find anywhere to live if I went by my paycheck.

"Um Heather-" Buster started when he saw the look of the inside the restaurant. I saw his expression, he knew he could afford this.

"Tonight is on me, Buster." I told him, "Enjoy it." I turned to face the hostess, who had a snobbish, judgmental look on her face, and told her in a polite, but direct tone, "A reservation for two, should be under Greyson."

"Of course, Miss Greyson." She nodded, "I'll go see if your table is ready."

I stood there grinning, I had always wanted to do that in a fancy restaurant. It was the simple pleasures that gave me joy and telling a snooty hostess in a high end restaurant was one of them. When she came back, she had a slightly pained expression on her face, but quickly masked it with a fake smile and seated us at our table by the window, which I had requested.

"This is amazing." Buster said in awe after the hostess left.

"It is." I smiled in agreement.

"How did you find out about this place?"

"My parents used to take me here whenever we'd visit the city." I answered honestly, "We would spend most of our Christmases in LA to get away from the cold, we spent a lot of summers in the city too, but we usually had Christmas Eve dinner here. They didn't really cook, so they thought it be better if we went out to dinner instead."

"You never said you weren't from here." Buster commented intrigued, "You said you grew up with the theatre before I bought it, so I assumed you were from California."

"Oh, no, I moved here on my own a few years ago after my parents passed, but I spent a lot of time at the theatre as a kid when we would visit." I responded, "Whenever we came out here, we would spend most of our time at the theatre and in the theatre district. It was one of the only things the three of us really bonded on as a family."

"So, where are you from?"

"A small town in Northern Virginia that most people don't recognize unless they're from there."

"I wouldn't have placed you as a Southern Belle."

"Most don't and I don't usually tell others that I am because I'm not. I just happen to be from there." I replied, accidentally letting a little of what was left of my Southern accent slip out. I looked down slightly annoyed with the slip. I hated my accent, it made me sound like Scarlett O'Hara. I blamed my parents for that damn accent, they were the ones who had sent me to a boarding school in Southern Virginia. When I looked up, Buster had this wide grin on his face. It was one of happy surprise and interest.

"I'm starting to see the Southern Belle in you." Buster told me, "That accent of yours really is something."

"You know that's not always a compliment, being one of those."

"Not always, no." He agreed, "But there are times when it can describe beautiful women who are from the South, who have an undeniable charm about them that bewitches and enchants those they choose to surround themselves. Someone very much like you."

I stared at him in awe. No one had ever said anything like that to me before, especially not so earnestly. If I hadn't been raised to be such a lady, I would have grabbed him by his blazer then and there and kissed him soundly. I was raised to be a lady though, so in awe I was of his beautiful words. It wasn't too long after that the waitress came to take our orders and the moment was over.

 **Ash's POV**

After I threw Lance and Becky out, I put together a duffle of all of the essential things I needed and grabbed my guitar, then headed out the door. Lance would be back in the morning and I didn't want to hear any of his excuses or deal with his crap, so I decided to go stay with my brother, Zach. He had a house on the beach where he lived with his best friends and band mates: Jake, Dylan, Billie, and Lani.

Jake was a black wolf that Zach's known since we were kids. They were more like brothers than friends. They had started their band Rising Phoenixes together and at first it was just them, until the rest of the band members came in one by one. Dylan, a brown bear who was originally from Missoula, Montana, was the first of the band mates to come along. He had a talent for the drums and it was the only thing he had a passion for other than food. That guy could out eat anyone and, I don't know if it was the grass or the mushrooms, but he was so mellow. Billie, a red fox with a talent for the keys who was originally from Pasadena, was the next in the group to come along. She was nice and had the biggest heart, but I think when everyone was being handed out brains, she somehow got distracted and missed the lineup. Although, who knows she might be somewhat smarter than she acted, no one's ever seen her fully sober. Lani, a white wolf who played guitar, was the last to join the band. She had moved to California from Kahakuloa, Hawaii, and wasn't too thrilled about the move. She had a bit of an attitude problem, but couldn't tell if that was from the move or if it was just her personality.

When I arrived, I rang the doorbell and Zach answered the door a couple of minutes later after three out of the five of them arguing who was going to get the door.

"What are you doing here?" Zach questioned bewildered.

"That's a great way to greet your sister." I rolled eyes.

"Not when your sister makes the decision to shack up with her boyfriend after she's warned not to." He replied, leaning against the door, "I also notice you have baggage, so that means the idea wasn't such a good one, and you chose to ignore my advice that if you were going to live with that idiot you should sublet the room to him."

"What do you want a 'you were right'? You wanna say 'I told you so'?" I retorted, starting to get fed up with his attitude.

"I thought I was already doing that." He replied cheekily. I glared at him starting to get angry, now was not the time for this crap. "C'mon in, it's gonna start raining soon." He moved to the side and let me inside. "You're not living here."

"Believe me, I don't want to." I retorted, "Living with you for nineteen years was long enough."

"Glad we're in agreement." He nodded and closed the door behind me. We went into the living room. "Hey guys, Ash's crashin' with us until she can find another apartment." He announced to the group.

"Hey Ash." Jake greeted.

"Sup." Dylan nodded in acknowledgement. Both of them were too immersed in Call of Duty to really pay attention to what was going on around them.

Lani and Billie were sitting at the kitchen table playing cards, judging by the empty seat with a small hand revealing a three of kind, Zach had been playing with them.

"She's cleaned us out again, Zach." Lani told him annoyed as Billie grabbed the pile of chips, smiling wildly as she pulled in her winnings.

"This is fun," Billie commented, taking a sip of her Strongbow cherry blossom cider, "You guys wanna play black jack?"

"No." Lani and Zach replied quickly.

Zach then added, "But I think you and I should go to Vegas next three day weekend we have off."

"Let her clean them out." Lani scoffed.

"You're guys' own fault." Jake commented, not taking his eyes off of the game, "I told you not to play poker with her."

"Yeah, you neglected to mention why." Lani narrowed her eyes at the back of his head.

"I thought it'd be obvious." He shrugged, "Thought you'd be smarter than to underestimate her, Lani." I could tell by his tone he was smirking from his little dig at her.

"Oh, bite me." She retorted.

"Where?" Jake replied with a laugh.

"Screw you." She glared pissed with his antics.

"Anytime, darlin'" He laughed.

She groaned, knowing that it wasn't worth it to keep going at it, and then turned to Billie, "Fine, black jack. They're gonna be usin' the TV for a while."

"You've got Once on DVR, right?" Billie asked Jake and Dylan.

"Yeah, it's set to record when it starts." Dylan replied.

"Why don't you watch it on Netflix?" I asked her.

"Oh, I didn't think of that." She replied, "I could do that."

"You don't have Netflix." Jake pointed out, "Your ex did, and he changed the password on you."

 **Buster's POV**

Dinner was amazing. I don't think I had ever been on a date with anyone who I had been able to talk with the way that I could talk to Heather. There was just something about her that stood out from the others. I couldn't tell if it was her or my vague memory of my other relationship that caused all of them to pale in comparison to her. Maybe it was the look in her sea blue eyes when she talked about the theatre, or softness in her voice described the little town in Virginia where she grew up, or the small faint smile on her face when she heard a song she recognized play. Some about her had been sticking with me since I had met her and as I've gotten to know her, whatever was there has only gotten stronger.

"So what got you into finances?" I asked her as we headed out of the restaurant.

"Well, I got a bachelor's in business with a minor in marketing from Stanford and I needed something to do with something steady to do with my degree and I didn't want to work in sales, so I went into banking." She explained halfheartedly, "Business was actually my fifth major in college and Stanford was the third university I had gone to. I was originally at SDSU studying theatre."

"Really?" I responded in surprise, "How did you go from theatre to business and marketing?"

"Well I was a theatre major with a focus in acting and I did well or at least well enough to get almost an A, but I realized having absolutely no competitive bone in my body doesn't really help you much with an acting career. I was happy enough being able to impress my professor, TA, and the rest of the students with my final monologue."

"What did you choose for your monologue?"

"The 'I am Gypsy Rose Lee' monologue from Gypsy." She answered, a small smile formed on her face, "Not all of it, I cut some of the lines, but yeah…"

"You know, the New Beverly Cinema is playing the 1962 film with Natalie Wood this week," I told her, an idea forming in my head, "Would you like to go see it?"

Her eyes grew wide with delight, "Really?"

"Yeah, if we go now, I think we could make the 10 o'clock show with enough time to get dessert beforehand."

"Okay."

"I'll pay for these." I told her. She opened her mouth to object, but I spoke up again before I could. "The tickets are only eight dollars a person and there's a nice café near the theatre."

"Buster-" She started again.

"You got dinner, let me get these."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."

"Then yes!" She exclaimed happily, "Yes, let's go."

We hailed a cab and headed to the cinema.

 **Layla's POV**

I headed out of the theatre to go pick up a late dinner after I finished rehearsal with Meena. Typically, when I went to go get take out for myself, I went to Veggie House. It was cheap, tasty, and reheated well. So, usually I got enough to last me for a couple of days for me, and sometimes Buster, to eat and pick over. I had been so many times over the past few years, they knew who I was and what I ordered. It was the same every time: steamed dumplings, chow mien without tofu, wonton soup, and Arizona green tea. On the days that I decided to get dessert as well, I would go somewhere closer to the theatre.

While I was waiting for my food, Johnny walked into the restaurant. I hadn't been expecting to see him till tomorrow. Well, an animal's gotta eat, right? I could hear his order from where I was sitting, not that I was really listening for it. He had gotten yellow curry and a bottle of water. It was simple, but did say a bit about his taste in food. When he saw me after he put in his order with the lady behind the counter, he smiled and came over to the table I was sitting at.

"Hey." He greeted, "Can I sit here?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Thanks." He said as he sat down in the seat across from me. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Getting dinner." I answered simply, "You?"

"Same." He nodded, "I was just going to pick mine up and go home, but maybe you might be interested in eating together?"

"Yeah, sure." I agreed, "Do you want to eat here or did you have something else in mind?"

"Well, I have my dad's truck and I don't have anywhere I have to be tonight and if you don't, have anywhere to be I mean, we could go to the beach and talk and eat there."

"I like the beach." I agreed after a few moments.

"Great." He smiled.

After we got our food, we got in his truck and we headed out. He drove us to the closest beach that was just outside of LA. Along the way, we listened to Goo Goo Dolls, We the Kings, and Blink-182 among other artists. He had the best playlists on his iPod, we loved a lot of the same music and he had bands on there I hadn't even known existed. He was also someone I didn't have to be shy about singing in a car with cause he's singing too. Not only singing, but full on rocking out to the song. His enthusiasm for the music makes me feel less awkward about singing and rocking out to the songs. In all honesty, we probably would have looked like a couple of lunatics to anyone who passed us. I loved this feeling, this feeling of being able to be completely myself, it's something I hadn't felt in a long time with a guy my age. I had been with Alex for so long, I had forgotten that there were guys like Johnny. Guys that were decent, and kind, and sweet, and good. He was so good. I know his background wasn't from everything I knew about him, but did a person's environment ultimately determine who they were meant to be? I mean look at me, I'm a gorilla girl raised by a koala bachelor in a theatre that doesn't have the most successful (to put it lightly) reputation. I could have probably ended up a lot worse than I did.

When we got to the beach, he parked the truck and we hopped out of the car. He grabbed our food out of the backseat along with a towel. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of the towel, "You always have that in the truck?"

"Well, we do live in Los Angeles." He replied, "We usually keep it in there for the steering wheel if we plan to keep it parked for a while, like if it's parked at home all day."

"That makes sense." I nodded, "So, where's home for you?"

"My dad runs a car garage on the other side of the city." Johnny answered, "We live above the garage."

"Is it just you and your dad?" I asked curiously. He had yet to mention his mother in all of the time we had spent together.

"Uh yeah." He managed to stumble out.

"What about your mom?"

"I don't know." He sighed, "I've never met her, she left before I could."

"Oh, Johnny, I'm so sorry." I responded feeling guilty for even bringing it up, "I didn't mean-"

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize." He gave me a reassuring smile, showing that it didn't bother him. "You didn't know."

"Sorry, I guess it's a force of habit." I replied, rubbing my neck. Alex always said I had asked too many questions, and more often than not they were the ones that didn't need or warrant answers. It was one of my many personality flaws he had chosen to bring attention to in the year and half we were together.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm too inquisitive. I ask too many questions. I-" I started.

"I like that you're inquisitive." He interrupted me, "It makes our conversations longer and more interesting."

"It does?"

"Yeah." He replied as if the answer were obvious, "Isn't that how all conversations continue?"

"So it would seem." I agreed as we stopped finding a spot to sit. He handed me the food, and then set the towel down on the sand. After he set the towel down, we spread out the food on the towel and sat down.

"What is that?" He asked pointing to the dumplings.

"They're dumplings." I replied without thinking, "You want one?"

"You sure you want to share?" He asked, "There aren't that many."

"I've got lo mien, wonton soup and dumplings to your curry, yes I'll share." I responded, "If I didn't, I'd look like a glutton."

"You'd look like you had a good appetite." He corrected, "Which is good."

"Have a dumpling, have two or three." I told him, "As long as there's some left for me. Try the wonton soup if you want too."

He took a dumpling and ate it. He then offered, "You want some curry?"

"Only if you take some lo mien."

"Deal." He agreed.

We managed to turn our single entrees into a small buffet for two under the stars while we talked and watched the waves. It would have been romantic if it were a date, which it wasn't. It was two people who enjoyed each other's company, friends, who happened to run into each other at a takeout restaurant and decided to eat their dinner together on the beach under the stars. Okay, it sounds exactly like a date, but Johnny and I, we're just friends. And really, should I even start a relationship with anyone this early after I've broken up with Alex? It's been almost a month, I think. That's too fast to even be considering someone, anyone, else. Even if the guy was sweet, and kind, and had these brown eyes you could get lost in, and an accent that felt more than addictive to listen to. Oh, his accent was beautiful.

No, no stop this madness. It's too soon. And relationships didn't work out for me any way. I can't name one relationship that has. If I want to keep him in my life, well as long as I can, its better off that we're friends. It's less of a tangled mess when we end up parting ways. What's the point in using 'if', it always happens. I might as well accept the fact.

"Have you ever thought about leaving here?" He asked as we watched the waves crash upon the sand. The food was completely gone by now and it was just us.

"Every once in a while." I answered, "If I didn't have Buster I'd probably think about it more."

"Where would you go?"

"New York, London…" I replied, "I don't know, somewhere different where I could start anew."

"Those don't seem like places you'd want to go on your own."

"Who's gonna come with me, you?"

"I wouldn't immediately turn it down if I was offered." He skirted around the question. My head quickly turned to look at him, I wasn't expecting an answer to that question. It was rhetorical. "It could be nice going somewhere new." He added, not seeing my expression. His eyes were focused on the water. I looked back at the ocean just listening to him talk. He wanted to leave, but his loyalty to his dad kept him here and I didn't blame him. I would have done the same thing in his position. It was actually quite admirable that even though he wanted to leave and knew, if he wanted to do something different with his life, he would have to, but he still stayed to be with his dad. "Would you ever consider leaving here to go to New York City with me?"

I looked from the water to Johnny, who, this time, was looking back at me. I opened my mouth to respond, but immediately closed it, finding that I didn't know quite how to answer his question. Could I go with him to the city? Yes. Would I? That was a hard to answer. That would lead to a relationship I wasn't sure if I wanted with anyone at the moment. To move to another city with a guy said a lot. It was a serious move for even a serious relationship. We weren't even dating. Okay, there was hanging out at the park and now here we are at the beach, and we spent a lot of time together in rehearsal, and there was the fact of how we met. I still can't believe I told those cops he was my lover, but in my defense, I didn't think I'd ever see him again. I'm glad I did though. Which was I happy about however? Helping him with the cops by pretending a relationship or seeing him again? There were other ways that I could have helped him when it came to the cops. A romantic relationship between star crossed lovers was the first thing that came to mind. He definitely would be my type physically with his black leather jacket, converses, brown eyes, and Welsh accent. However, it wasn't his appearance that drew me to him as I've already said. He was good and, as far as his personality went, out of my league. He deserved someone who was just as good as he was.

Thunder boomed above, startling both of us and saving me from having to answer. We both looked up at the dark, now clouded, sky. How long had we been sitting here?

"Was it supposed to-" I started to ask him, but before I could answer, it started to pour. We gathered up our stuff, threw out the food containers in nearby trashcans, and got into his truck.

When he started the engine, I finally saw the time. It was half past midnight. We had been out here for almost three hours. It didn't even seem like we had even been out there for an hour, let alone three. It felt like time moved faster when I was with Johnny. Was that supposed to happen? It never happened with Alex, I felt every moment pass by when I was with him. Of course, most of those moments I was being belittled or micromanaged, so that might have something to do with how I felt about time passing. If I started comparing Johnny and Alex, I would have a list of all differences, except for one: They are both guy gorillas. Alex is a controlling, cheating asshole who needs everything his way or everyone and everything else be damned, whereas Johnny, he's everything Alex isn't.

Alex is inert and inarticulate. He's jacked cars, gotten into fights, and shoplifted. He never needed to commit crimes to get by though. His family had enough money to live comfortable and he had everything handed to him. Every vile, spiteful, or illegal thing, he's ever done was for the joy of it. He got off on it, seeing others in pain. If it weren't for our biological nature, I highly doubt I would have even considered him in the first place. All it took was looking at him, with his tall and muscular build, to make my IQ go down to practically 40 and let the hormones and pheromones have their way. I fell too fast too hard to realize that as attractive as he was, his personality was atrocious and cruel.

Johnny is intelligent and sweet. He's a talented musician from a troubled background and is trying to do better than the life that his environment has provided him. I didn't need to solely rely on his looks, which did help, to be attracted to him. I was drawn to who he was and it made it hard for me to focus when I was around him, but in a good way. With him, I was lost in the moment every minute I was with him and I enjoyed it. I could see myself possibly falling for him in the long run, I could see myself even running away with him, but it wasn't something I could think on right now with everything going on; and if I did anything with him at this point in time, would that just make him the rebound to Alex? I don't think I'd want that for Johnny, but it's possible that he could be while I still had Alex in the back of my mind.

After a silent car ride, Johnny dropped me off at the theatre and I thanked him and bit him farewell, saying that I would see him tomorrow, completely evading answering his question. I ran inside so I wouldn't get drenched and went to my room, which was an old dressing room that was converted into a bedroom. I changed my clothes from soaked jeans, a t-shirt, and hooded sweatshirt to a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt, and then went to bed.

 **Heather's POV**

"Thank you for tonight, Buster." I thanked him after we walked out of the screening, "I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun."

"You were the one who asked me to dinner." He pointed out, "Shouldn't I be thanking you?"

"You thought of the film."

"I did." He nodded in agreement, "But I wouldn't have thought of it, if you hadn't told me about the monologue."

"I guess we'll have to share the credit."

"It would be an honor to share the credit of this wonderful night with a lovely lady such as yourself." He mock bowed.

I smiled, "Thank you, Darlin'."

He returned my smile with one of his own, until we walked out of the cinema. Neither of us had expected it to be pouring.

"I could call a cab." He offered.

"Why not just walk?" I asked, "The theatre's not far, I could stay there until it lightens up."

"You could stay the night, if you wanted." Buster replied, considering my suggestion, and then he realized the connotation and saw the amused look on my face, and then backtracked, "Not in that sense, I meant-"

"I know what you meant, Buster." I told him to put him out of his awkward self-imposed shame, "Thank you."

We headed back to the theatre in the rain and the next day, after I was able to go home and change, we went to speak to his potential sponsor.

"Flowers are good touch." I noted on the bouquet of red, pink, and yellow roses, "Interesting message you're saying with the flowers too."

"What do you mean?" Buster asked, "They're just flowers."

"Red roses are for romantic and sexual desire and love, pink means affection, grace and gratitude, and yellow is for friendship." I explained, he looked at me for a moment as if I lost my mind, before grimacing. I'm guessing this particular sponsor was not the type to be desired.

"I'm regretting not just picking the bouquet of yellow roses."

"Buster, these are beautiful." I told him, "I wouldn't worry about it, a lot rich animals don't put a lot of thought into horticulture and floriography. They probably won't even think about the symbolism. I shouldn't have even mentioned it, sometimes I forget to think before I speak. It's almost as if I don't have a filter."

"No, it's good to know the next time I have to go to the florist." Buster replied, "I have to make a call to a friend so we can meet the sponsor."

"Okay." I nodded. He pulled out his phone and called his friend. After a few moments, they picked up.

"Hey Eddie," Buster greeted him, "How are you? …Ah, it's going great. Hey that's a sharp jacket you've got on." He complimented his friend. I looked at Buster oddly, there was no way he could have- Unless his friend was here. I gave him a questioning look and he pointed to the sheep in the yellow jacket. His friend Eddie was Edward Noodleman III. He was a Noodleman, our families spent our summers together. If he recognized me, there went my quiet simple life, or at least it would eventually as more came to find out. Hopefully, he won't know.

Buster hung up as Edward, well Eddie, approached us, whom let out a shocked shriek upon seeing the two of us sitting on the ledge.

"Eddie, you can't visit your Nana without bringing her some flowers." Buster said, handing him the bouquet and rang the doorbell. I finally realized where we were and this was not going to be good.

"What?" Eddie asked him, "No, Buster, don't go in there."

Buster raced passed him inside and then Eddie looked at me.

"Don't I know you?"

"You might have seen me in the theatre." I replied vaguely as we followed Buster inside. It wasn't a lie, if he and Buster were friends and if he's visited recently, he could have.

"It's definitely not that."

"I'm sure it's something we can discuss later." I told him.

"I know I've-" He started and then it hit him, "Hello Heather."

"Please Edward, can we talk about this later?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He replied as we caught up with Buster. He tried calling after Buster again, but it was too late. Nana had already seen the three of us.

"Ah Nana, just look at you dear..." Buster greeted her as she came down the stairs in all of her posh glory, "Wow! You don't look a day over ninety."

Both Eddie and I face-palmed. This was not going to end well.

"Oh my gosh." Eddie groaned.

"He just mentioned her age." I whispered.

"I heard." Eddie replied.

"Buster Moon." He introduced himself, taking the flowers from Eddie, "We met at Eddie's graduation."

"Oh lucky me, a visit from my useless grandson and his ghastly little theatre friend." She scoffed. She looked down at me for a moment about to say something, but Buster spoke up before she could.

"Oh look she remembers me." Buster told Eddie, and then said to Nana, "Nana, how would you like to be the sponsor for a very prestigious prize?"

"Not for that singing contest I saw on the news?" She clarified.

"That's the one." Buster confirmed.

"Oh, I see, you don't have the money." She saw through him in an instant, "Do you?"

"Well, we don't have it all locked in-" He started sheepishly.

"Well, you'll not get it a cent out of me." She started to pass by him.

"Nana, just please listen to me." Buster urged.

"No absolutely not." Nana refused. Eddie tried to help Buster, but she just gave him her cup of tea and ordered him to make her more as she headed into her sitting room.

I pulled Buster back before he could follow her inside, he looked at me confused.

"You brought me here so I could talk to her." I reminded him, "Let me talk to her. The more you go after her like this, the more she's just going to refuse. I might not be able to change her mind, but I can at least try."

"Okay." Buster agreed.

"Thank you." I told him before going inside and shutting the doors behind me. I focused on Nana, "Mrs. Noodleman, my name is Heather Greyson. I don't know if you remember-"

She looked at me pointedly, "Heather Greyson, born October 22nd to Iris and Oliver Greyson. Went to two different boarding schools because you had behavioral issues according to the school board. Amazing the things one will do when they want to be removed from a place. You also went to a few different universities, but that was because you didn't know what you wanted to do other than theatre. After Iris and Oliver died, you permanently moved out here." She raised an eyebrow when she saw my look of shock. "You really don't think I wouldn't remember my goddaughter's only daughter?"

"I-I"

"My dear, I am old and I am tired of being sought after for my money." She told me frankly, "I can tell by the way you look at Mr. Moon that you would like to help him, but you do not want to help fund his silly show because you do not think it'll succeed."

"That's not true." I stood my ground. I don't care what she will say about me, but Buster was off limits. "I believe in Buster. He's amazing and kind, and very passionate about the theatre. He works his ass off on his shows. He's just never had them properly funded. You couldn't help him with his show, you could help with the Moon Theatre. The theatre that used you used to be star of before his family took ownership. The theatre that gave you all of this." I looked down feeling slightly guilty at the fact I'm not helping when I could that did strike a nerve with me, "I could help, but I am not ready for anyone to know how much money I have. I don't want a life in the limelight. I don't want fame, especially not because I happen to come from money. I like having a simple life and I would like to tell Buster how I want to when I am ready." I took a deep breath and looked up at her, "You could help this theatre. You could make a difference for a lot of people."

 **Eddie's POV**

"So what's up with you and Heather?" I asked trying to make conversation as we waited for her to come out.

"What makes you say there's something there?" He replied a little too quickly.

"The look on your face, you did as she said when she went to go speak to my grandmother, you canceled our halo night last night." I listed off, "You asked her to come here to talk to Nana, why?"

I doubted it was because he knew of her connection with my family, that she knew Nana, she had always been shy about being an heiress. She was probably one of the most modest people when it came to her immense fortune.

"She's a very charming woman and I thought she might help win over Nana-"

"You like her." I interrupted him, instead of listening to him beat around the bushes with every reason that he could have invited her other than the real one, which was written all over his face. "Buster, you like Heather. I don't think I've ever seen you interested in anyone."

"I've dated before." He replied dismissively.

"Yeah, I know, but none of them ever caused that look."

"What look?"

"That lovelorn, yearning look." I told him, "I mean, c'mon, I can read it all over your face now when I mention her name. I saw the look on your face when she shut the door to talk to Nana." I tried to read his expression, "Buster, are you in love with-" I started to ask, but I was cut off when Heather opened the door.

"Buster, I think you might be able to talk to Nana now." She told him, and then squeezed his paw gently, "Good luck." She let go and walked over to me, "C'mon Eddie, I'll teach you how to make tea."

After Buster went inside to talk to Nana, Heather and I followed Wodsworth, one of Nana's servants, to the kitchen. I watched Heather make the tea.

"Heather, what are doing?" I asked her earnestly.

"I'm making tea." She replied, "Like Nana wanted."

"No, with Buster." I asked, "Is this real for you? Or is he just apart of your crusade to be normal and when you're bored you'll go back east?"

"I don't think you used that word right." She pointed out, avoiding my question.

"Heather, he's my best friend." I insisted, "Is whatever's going on real for you?"

"It's real, Edward." She stopped what she was doing, "I wasn't expecting to feel as much as I do for him. There was something that clicked between us when we met. I don't know what it is, but it's very real."

"He doesn't know, does he?"

"I want him to like me for me not for how much money I happen to have."

"He's not that type to-"

"I'm not ready to tell anyone yet, Edward." She said soundly.

After a few moments, I spoke up again, "Heather?"

"What?" She asked.

I sighed, "Please don't hurt my friend."

She looked back at me sadly, "That is the last thing I would ever want to do, especially to Buster." She finished the tea, I grabbed the tray, and we headed back to Nana's sitting room.

"That theatre of yours was a palace of wonder and magic." I heard Nana say as we entered the room.

"But Nana, it still is." Buster insisted.

"Yeah, right." I scoffed, only to earn a glare from Heather and an elbow to the shin from Buster. Nana ignored the three of us and went on about the theatre in what she considered to be its heyday.

Buster took her cup of tea off of the tray, "Music and light bringing dreams to life." He said as he handed her the cup.

"Precisely." She agreed taking the tea.

"Well, it's just like you remembered." Buster told her, "In fact, I've made it even more spectacular!"

I kicked him in the heel for the lie, "No, you haven't." I whispered to him. Heather pulled me back.

"How about a special performance just for you?" Buster suggested, "What do you say, Nana?"

"I say…" She paused for a moment, "You are a liar, Mr. Moon."

"Okay, we're done now." I said, pulling Buster away from Nana. He didn't need to be berated, nor at her age did she need to be badgered.

"But anything's better than playing checkers with this old fart." Nana added.

"Great!" Buster exclaimed, running over to her, "It's gonna be great, Nana. That is no lie!"

"We shall see." She replied.

"You will." Buster insisted, "Thank you."  
"Don't thank me, Mr. Moon." She responded, "Thank Miss Greyson, it's her blind faith in you that has helped you today."

Buster and I looked to Heather surprised and slightly curious about what had transpired between the two of them. She looked down and hid her expression from the rest of us.

 **Miles' POV**

When Buster returned with Heather from their meeting with the sponsor, he had Layla, Meena, and I gather up the contestants. They were supposed to show off the songs that they were supposed to perform for the competition today. He didn't go into much detail over the phone, he only said he'd explain when he got there.

"Listen up!" Buster told the group, "Tomorrow, we're going to have a full preview of the show."

Layla and I looked to each other, similar expressions of dread wearing on our faces, and then we looked back to Buster, hoping that it didn't get worse from here.

"Our audience will be none other than Ms. Nana Noodleman."

It just got worse.

"Nana Noodleman?" Mike questioned, "She's still alive?"

"Yes." Buster confirmed, "And believe me, she's got some pretty high standards. Today, we're going to have a full dress rehearsal and I wanna see you light up the stage!"

"Buster-" Layla and I spoke up to object as the contestants left the area. None of them were ready for this and we were down two acts. We couldn't preview the show.

"Layla, Miles, come look at this." Buster told us, "You too, Mrs. Crawly, Meena."

We huddled around him to see what his scheme was this time. He rolled out a blueprint of a set design for the stage. He explained to us his plan and then told everyone they had two minutes before the dress rehearsals start.

"I'll check on Johnny and Mike, you check on Ash and Rosita and Gunther?" I proposed to Layla, who nodded in agreement, and we split up. I went to Johnny first, I liked talking to him more than Mike.

"Hey dude." I greeted him. He looked slightly panicked, it wasn't because of me though or that he had to go on. "Somewhere you need to be?"

"I, uh-" He started and then restarted his sentence, "I have family business and I have to leave now."

"Look, man, I'll cover for you and buy you some time." I told him, "You owe me though."

"Thanks." He responded, "I'll be back as soon as I can." He sprinted off.

I went to go check on Mike.

 **Layla's POV**

"That is not a good look for you." I commented when Ash came out in the pop princess costume. "That costume looks ridiculous on everyone though. I think I might have a picture of Buster in that costume when I was a kid." I told her to lighten the mood a bit, but she stayed as quiet and angsty as ever. "Guessing you're good to go?"

"Would be better if I didn't have to sing a pop song." She jabbed bitterly.

"Then find another genre to use as your back up." I responded logically, "There's a whole stack of CDs in your rehearsal space, look through them, listen, maybe you'll learn something." I walked away. I liked her well enough, but I could not deal with teen angst today. I guess I should be glad she wasn't speaking in the abbreviated English that most teens and college kids seem to speak these days. I'm only in my mid-twenties and they make me feel old.

I went to check on Rosita and Gunther, who were all set to go, and then went to the catwalk to help with the lighting and make sure everything was all set. It was one of the best places to watch the performances anyway.

Mike went on first, his was well done and highly complimented by Buster. He was good, very good, but what else would you expect from someone who studied music at a conservatory? He was someone that if you knew his background then you already had an idea of how good he was, but his arrogance kept him from being great. Ash went on after him. I've never heard a more depressing version of Call Me Maybe. Although, I've actually never heard that song sung sadly. I've seen it sung desperately with a girl fox pretending to be Catwoman and singing it with a guy coyote pretending to be Batman, but even that was more kinky than depressing.

Buster stopped her mid choked out line and Meena cut the music. Buster tried to approach her, but she just kept crying. She accidently quilled him and ran off the stage. I climbed down from the catwalk and went after her. Rosita, Gunther and Meena followed after her too. The five of us sat down and listened to Ash vent and cry. She had seen for herself last night that her boyfriend, Lance, had been cheating on her.

"Well, it seems to me that you're way better off without that, that-" Rosita tried to find a word.

Gunther finished her sentence with a suggestion of his own, "That total super jerk dinklesplat."

"Exactly." Rosita agreed and then tried to say the name, which she failed. Buster called them to the stage. "There's should be some gum or some candy in there somewhere." Rosita said handing Ash her back before rushing to go on stage. Johnny rushed in shortly after asking Rosita if they could switch. She would have agreed and almost did, but Gunther was already on stage. She apologized and went onstage. I focused my attention back on Ash, who was still understandably upset.

"Guys are hard to predict." I told her, "So is everyone and everything else though."

Ash kept looking down.

"Coming from someone who has been cheated on, berated, controlled, and degraded by someone who has claimed to love them, take this as a learning experience that will help you moving forward. It may not seem like it now, but this will make you stronger as long as you don't let this experience affect how you view yourself and the ability for you to be in a relationship. I would step back and do something for yourself."

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I like to write when I'm upset, or happy, or really any abundance of emotion." I answered, "It's not really important what did though because what works for me might not work for you. It really depends on each person and how they choose to deal with their emotions."

"Why did he do it?" She asked after a few moments. That was probably the best question I've heard all day. Why do people cheat? Was that a question anyone had the answer for?

I sighed, looked down, and tried to answer her question the best that I could, "Look Ash, you seem nice, a little moody, but nice. I don't think it was you he cheated. He cheated himself out of being with you and that sometimes happens and that is his loss, not yours. I know it's hard and it's going to be that way for a while. It's going to hurt for a while and then you're going to meet someone makes you feel like that guy didn't matter because they make you feel like you're worthwhile, that you're less empty inside, and that there's some good in you. They'll make you feel special, like you want to share your heart again. That may take weeks, months, years, but it'll happen and your ex will be a blip, a spec, on your memory when it does. Love and relationships take time, a lot of time, and they're not always going to work the way that we'd like them to. There are times, like now, when it's going to hurt or like you have a hole in your heart, and there's going to be other times when you're going to be really happy…" I looked up at Ash from where I was sitting, who had just been staring at me this whole time. "My point is that even though this hurts now, it won't for long. With time, it'll get better and you'll find someone who treats you the way you deserve."

 **Miles' POV**

"That took less time than I expected." I commented to Johnny when I saw him.

"I need to go back after I finish my song." He replied in calm, but slightly frantic tone.

"Then go and leave Buster to me and Layla." I told him without missing a beat, "Family is slightly more important than this."

"Thanks." He responded before Johnny called him out on stage. He and I pushed out the piano and then he started his performance as I made my way off stage.

Vocally, Johnny was doing great. He had that song down. I don't know what Layla was talking about a few days ago about him not feeling the emotions in that song. I may not be the most perceptive porcupine, but even I could tell he felt something for someone and putting that emotion into the song. He was having a few issues with the piano though. Not many, once he got into the song, there were less issues. Maybe it was a mind over matter thing. He was actually the only one to last this long with a song. I looked over at Layla, who was staring at Johnny with a look I have never seen on her before. I looked back Johnny, who was singing with more conviction than I had heard him when I first heard him practicing the song.

"She has feelings for him…" I whispered to myself.

"And he loves her." Mrs. Crawly added in the same hushed tone. "You can tell it in the way he talks about her and the way he looks at her when she's not paying attention."

"Love is a strong word." I rebuffed her comment. I couldn't help it the notion was ridiculous. They had only known each other, what a month? It can't have happened that fast. That like something out of musical or Disney movie. "They haven't known each other long-"

"I may be getting older and my eye sight may be going, but you could be blind and still be able to see that they're something between them and there has been since the moment he arrived." Mrs. Crawley looked down at me, "Just like you and the girl you call a 'rock goddess'."

I paled a bit. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't." She replied, "Neither will Layla if you asked her."

Johnny finished his song and then rushed off the stage to get to wherever he needed to be while Buster was giving him his notes. Buster called after him, but he was already gone. Before he could ask where Johnny went, I ran over to Buster.

"What do you want to about replacing the acts we lost?" I asked him.

"We're going to do with what we have." Buster answered, "I was hoping you and Layla could audition as well as Meena, see what type of musical talent we have backstage."

"Mr. Moon." Ash stepped out onto the stage, she was out of the princess dress and back to her normal clothes.

"How can I help, Ash?"

"I'm friends with this band, who typically does local gigs around the city." Ash told him, "If I call my brother, they might be willing to audition and perform in the show."

"That'd be great, thank you." Buster nodded, "If you could get them here by this afternoon, I'd appreciate it."

"I'll call them now." She replied and rushed off the stage to go call her brother.

"Well, while we're waiting for her brother and his band, you and Layla can do your auditions." Buster told me, which got Layla's attention pretty quickly. She walked on stage.

"Buster, I don't perform in front of others." Layla stated.

"And I don't sing." I added.

"It's interesting you use the word 'don't' instead of 'can't'." Buster replied, "I'll let you both audition together, I just want to hear you sing and possibly have you sing for Nana. And if you choose not to perform the night of the show, that is up to you."

"Let's go find something to sing, Miles." Layla conceded.

"But Layla-" I started.

"It's just one song." She replied, "Almost everyone is gone. It's just Ash, Gunther, and Meena left and they don't judge. And Buster and Mrs. Crawly have already heard us sing. We're just performing for Buster."

"Alright." I agreed.

I joined her backstage and we looked through her iPod for a song to sing.

 **Heather's POV**

"How did the dress rehearsal go?" I asked Buster as I sat down next to him. I had a meeting at the bank with Judith on the Moon Theatre progress. I don't think I've ever blatantly lied so much in my entire life, but it bought him more time and it kept Judith out of Buster's business for a little longer. After my meeting with Judith, I went and picked up Thai food on my way back to the theatre.

"Not bad." He shrugged, "Your meeting?"

"Could have gone worse." I answered, "Judith won't be contacting for an update anytime soon." I set the food down on the table as well as the Arizona teas. "Thought you might want some food."

"You get Nana to agree to a preshow, keep Judith away for at least a few more weeks, and you bring lunch." He smiled, "Are you a saint?"

"I just like to help." I replied modestly as I opened on of the containers.

"You are." He replied, and then asked, "How'd you get Nana to change her mind?"

"I just told her the truth." I replied simply, and took a bite of my food.

"Truth?"

"That you're amazing and it would be foolish and arrogant not to give you a chance." I told him the basic underlying message of what I had said to her. I don't think I could be brave enough to tell him what I told her.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Miles and a girl came on stage and set up their instruments.

"That's Layla." Buster pointed out. I nodded in understanding. He turned his attention back to the two of them, who had just finished, "Whenever you're ready."

They both started to play.

 **Ash's POV**

I waited for Zach, Jake and the rest of the band outside. They drove up about fifteen minutes after I walked outside. Zach, Jake, and Lani in one car and Dylan and Billie in the truck behind them.

"I hope you guys are ready because you would have to audition the moment you go inside." I told them.

"Always are." Jake replied.

"Thanks Ash." Zach told me.

The five of them went inside, I followed after them so I could watch their audition. After they set up, Buster grave them the go ahead and they started to play. They chose Rebel Love Song by Black Veil Brides. I sat in the back and just listened to the song, leaning against the chair in front of me.

When they finished, Buster, and his associate and possibly girlfriend, I couldn't tell, stood and clapped.

"You're in." Buster told them, "Make sure you're prepared for the pre-show. Ash can fill you in on the show. You're to be here tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir." Jake thanked him for the group, "We'll be here."

As they gathered their stuff, I went to see if I could find Miles.

"If you're looking for Miles, he went home." Layla told me. She and Meena were talking by the stairs.

"What makes you think I was looking for Miles?" I asked.

"Lucky guess." She replied, "He comes in early in the mornings. If you want to catch him, I'd do it then."

"Thanks for the tip." I told her before walking back over to the group. "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah." Zach answered.

We left to go back to their house.

 **Layla's POV**

"So you were telling me yesterday night you were writing a song." Meena reminded me as we practiced that night. We had kind of ended practice for the night and were just hanging out.

"Well I don't have much." I replied, "I don't have anything just a like a verse or a chorus maybe. It's nothing."

"That's what you said the other night when you were covered head to toe in paint from wherever you were with Johnny." She pointed out. The more time we've spent together, the more comfortable she was getting out of her shell a bit. It was nice having a girl I could talk about stuff with. Johnny has become a more common topic recently.

"Okay, but really there's nothing to the song." I told her, before starting to play out the bit I had on the piano, _"You wanna get outta this town?_

 _Come back to the city with me?_

 _There's so much in you_

 _That you don't see._

 _We could make a go of it,_

 _You and me_

 _We could finally see_

 _What it means to be free"_ I finished the small segment I had, "I told you there was nothing to it."

"I think it's pretty." She replied, "Is that a verse or the chorus?"

"I think it's the chorus, not sure though." I told her, "It just keeps repeating in my mind."

"I'm sure you'll find something to go with it."

"I hope so, I'm kind of getting sick of the same words being stuck in my head." I told her, before checking the time. It has half past ten. "You might want to head home before your family worries about you." I showed her the time.

"Good idea." She replied, "Thanks." She gathered her stuff and left shortly after.

As I headed backstage, I could hear the piano outside of Buster's office playing upstairs.

"That's odd." I murmured. Buster was with Eddie and Mrs. Crawly didn't really play on that piano as much as she used to. I went upstairs to investigate and found Johnny playing his back up song with Mrs. Crawly right beside him helping him learn the song. I stayed there for a few moments and just listened to him play and then went back down stairs. Mrs. Crawly had this handled.

 **Ash's POV**

"You're up later than usual." Jake commented from where he standing at the island, leaning against the counter, cradling a mug in his paws. "You want some?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Hot water, lemon, and honey." He answered. I looked at him unsurely. "It sort of tastes like hot lemonade, which it better than it sounds."

"Sure." I agreed, "Thanks."

"Yeah, well I think your brother would kill me if I tried to give you alcohol."

"If Billie didn't attempt kill you first for sneaking out something from her pantry."

"Very true." He agreed, handing me a mug and poured me a cup of the lemon water, "So, what's got you up this late?"

"I've just been thinking about something." I told him, "This guy at the theatre, he tried to warn me about Lance and I didn't believe him."

"How did he know?"

"His girlfriend, his ex, was the girl that Lance was cheating on me with." I explained, "Miles, the guy from the theatre, after he caught them together, he warned me and I told him that it must have been some other guy, another guy named Lance."

"But it wasn't." He replied and then finished off his mug.

"I know." I replied looking down at my mug, "I don't know what do about Miles."

"He seems like a nice guy, there aren't many guys who would warn someone about their partner cheating on them." He said, refilling his cup, "How did he warn you?"

"He told me." I answered, "What should I do?"

"That's on you." Jake responded, "I can't tell you what to do or what to decide. I know you feel guilty for not believing him. It's written all over your face and you wouldn't feel this guilty if you didn't think he was a nice guy and like in the slightest way. So, let me impart a little advice on you, which you can take or leave however you choose. Talk to him. If he's as nice of a guy as I'm assuming he is, judging by your behavior, he'll listen to what you have to say. He must like you in some way or at least care of you to not want to see you hurt. And when a guy likes a girl, or at least when a good guy likes a girl, he will do anything to make her happy. Just go to him and talk to him, if he likes you, he'll listen." He picked up his mug, "Have a good night, Ash."

"Good night, Jake." I replied as he left the kitchen.

 **Buster's POV**

"Usually, you're better at this game." Eddie commented as we played on his play station 2, "What's going on with you tonight?"

"I don't know who what you're talking about." I replied.

"You sure?" He asked, "You're not thinking about Heather?"

I paused the game, "What are you talking about?"

"You have feelings for Heather."

I sighed, "Is that so wrong?"

He looked surprised at my admission. I liked her, I already knew I did. I knew it was more than that, but I wasn't ready to admit that aloud or to whatever extent more was to even myself.

"I don't know if I've ever seen you like this." He replied, "It's kind of funny."

I rolled my eyes.

"She's really nice and pretty." He went on, "How'd you manage it?"

"Manage what?"

"Getting her to like you." Eddie replied, "No offense, Buster, but you're not the best looking koala ever."

"It's interesting how every time someone says no offense, it's followed by something offensive." I told him, unpausing the game. There was no point in keeping the game paused, this conversation was probably going to go on for a while. "Heather and I as just good friends who enjoy each other's company."

"Oh is that what they're calling it now?" Eddie replied, "Cause what I see is my best friend falling in love with a girl, who might be in love with him as well."

I paused the game and looked at Eddie, "What?"

"Why not just do something about it?" Eddie asked, ignoring my response, "Girls like her, they don't come around every day."

"No, no, they don't." I agreed, thinking about what he had been saying. "I'll see you later."

"Where you going?"

"Home." I replied, "There's something that I forgot that I needed to do."

"Okay."

I left and texted Layla on my way home to meet me outside and to text Meena and Miles to meet us. We'd need their help.


	9. Chapter 9: Love Song Requiem

**AN: Hello everyone, this chapter is going to signify the first major change or breakaway that I'm making from the film. This change is that I'm making the length of time between the destruction of the theatre, everyone getting back together, and the big show longer. I'm going to play around with the characters for a bit and bring them back together a little slower than the movie does since the movie does it pretty immediately. I'm going to bring back each of the characters in different ways, and then once I bring all of them back, I'll have them go to Buster.**

 **There's also a little cameo in here that anyone who's read my other stories might recognize. Many years ago, I wrote a fanfiction for Ice Age that took place during the second film called Things I'll Never Say. I didn't have a fanfiction account then and a very good friend at the time who did agreed to post the story for me. Writing this story has brought back some memories of writing that story, so I decided to include a small cameo in this chapter for a couple of characters in that story.**

 **I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Nine: Love Song Requiem**

 **Layla's POV**

"What the hell are we doing out here?" Miles asked annoyed. I didn't blame him, I had woken him up to come out here and we didn't even know what we were supposed to be doing.

"Did Buster say anything when he texted you?" Meena asked.

"He didn't say anything other than to have you guys come back to the theatre and to meet him outside." I answered, "I'm just as lost as you guys are."

"You don't think it's anything illegal, do you?" Miles questioned.

"I think it'll be just as legit as the way we got the power back." I surmised, folding my arms, "Anything to keep us in business, right?"

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Miles responded.

"Didn't we borrow the electricity from another building?" Meena asked.

"Yes, yes we did." I nodded.

"Isn't that stealing?" Meena replied.

"Ye-"

I stepped on Miles' foot before he could finish his answer. "No, it's sharing."

"So when I took the last of the pizza you picked up a couple of days ago, that was sharing?" Miles questioned.

"No, that was stealing." I replied pointedly, "I don't share food."

Meena suppressed a laugh. I had told her about the impromptu picnic on the beach with Johnny. It had been my idea to share my food with him. I would have continued, however, Buster showed up a short while after my reply and we left.

"Where are we going?" I asked Buster as the three of us followed him down the street.

"The water tower." He answered, "We have a lot to do before tomorrow morning."

That night, we spent most of the evening until the early hours of the morning getting theatre ready for its preview show for Nana Noodleman and posting flyers all over town advertising job openings for squids looking to take apart of the theatre business and willing to go into the tank we had built for the scenery and lighting.

"Did you spend all night here?" I asked Johnny as I walked into Buster's office to set down some paperwork. It looked like the only person who got some sleep was Mrs. Crawly, who was currently snoring in the chair.

"Yeah, I needed the extra practice." He shrugged.

"What I heard sounded great." I complimented.

Meena poked her head in the room, "Mr. Moon would like everyone to meet backstage before she arrives."

"Alright, we'll be right there." I told her.

 **Miles' POV**

"Hey Miles, can you go get Ash?" Buster asked me as he was trying to gather everyone together, "I'd like to do this meeting as soon as possible."

"Uh, yeah, sure." I replied hesitantly and then went to Ash's rehearsal space. I took a deep breath and then opened the door, "Um, hey, Buster wants everyone to meet up before the show."

"Okay." She replied, and then asked, "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure?"

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you warned me about Lance." She apologized, "You were right and I should have listened."

"You barely know me." I shrugged it off, "It's understandable that you wouldn't."

"Are we cool?"

"Yeah." I nodded, we stood there awkwardly for a few moments before I spoke again, "We might want to go to that meeting."

"Right."

We both left the rehearsal room. Buster gave all of us our line up in the show. Mike would go first, then Rising Phoenixes, then Rosita and Gunther, and then Johnny followed them, Layla and I were after Johnny, Ash was after us, and then Meena, if she chose to participate would finish out the show. I sat down next to Johnny, who was reading a newspaper.

"Anything interesting?" I asked him.

He hid the paper, "No not at all."

"Dude, you need to be less jumpy." I told him, pulling out the paper, "Especially when it comes to your family."

"How did you know?" He asked.

"All of the times you left for family business and how focused you are on that article." I replied, "You've read it at least three or four times since you've been down here." I looked at the picture on the front page, "That your dad?"

"Yeah." Johnny nodded, "He's-"

Before Johnny could continue, our attention was caught by Mrs. Crawly. Nana Noodleman had arrived. Buster and Heather rushed out of the theatre to go and greet her.

"You both ready to go?" Layla asked us. We both confirmed that we were and then she went to go check on the others.

 **Heather's POV**

"How you doing?" I asked Buster as we waited for Nana to get out of the car with Eddie.

"Nervous." He answered.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Buster." I told him, "I think the show is going to be wonderful, we just have to prove that to everyone else."

Nana and Eddie stepped out of the car and Buster greeted them warmly.

"Nana!" He held out his arms.

"Do not even think of embracing me." She backed away from him disgusted.

"You got it." Buster replied affirmatively, "Eddie, please show your show your Nana to the royal box."

Eddie offered his arm, but she dismissed him.

"Oh for heaven sakes, I'm perfectly capable of walking." She told the both of them as she walked passed.

"You nervous?" Eddie asked him.

Buster laughed, "Are you kidding?" His face feel out of the showman smile he had been sporting for Nana, "I'm absolutely terrified." He scurried after Nana and Eddie and I quickly followed after him. Buster got everyone to their positions while Eddie ran upstairs to the royal box after Nana. Buster moved to his spot on the moon in front of the opening curtain and Meena pulled on the lever so it would raise with him on it. As the moon began to rise, Layla controlled the lights to slowly come on.

"All creatures great and small, welcome to the Moon Theatre." Buster said, "I am your host, Buster Moon-" He was cut off as the crescent moon he was sitting on plummeted halfway down the curtain. Luckily, Meena was able to stop it before he crashed into the stage. Buster carefully pulled himself back up on the moon and stood, "Behold, the very first stage lit entirely by squid power!" The curtain drew back to reveal an enormous tank filled with squids that lit up the entire auditorium.

"Oh my god." My jaw dropped as I watched him and the squids on stage. An instinctive feeling filled me with dread. This was beautiful, but with all of this water, something told me that there was something about this that wasn't going to end well.

The auditorium doors suddenly blew open with a slam. All of us looked to the front to find three burly Russian bears carrying Mike.

"Which one of you is Moon?" The leader, who was wearing a leather jacket, black hat, and carrying Mike, demanded.

"You can't just barge in here." Buster retorted.

"You know this guy?" The bear asked him, squeezing Mike in his paw.

"Mike?" Buster asked.

"Right." The bear confirmed, "Mike here, says you've got his money and it's in that box."

Buster tried to explain that the money was prize money and not Mike's unless he won it, but the bear only put a tighter grip on Mike, until Buster relented.

"Open it." The bear ordered. Buster hesitantly tried to beat around the bush and refuse, but the bear only took a bat to the chest and broke it open. Revealing to everyone, well everyone who wasn't in on the secret, that it was practically empty.

"He lied." Mike spat, "They all lied. They lied to us all"

I looked over at Miles and Layla who both were avoiding the others' eyes with pained expressions on their faces. They had been waiting for this ball to drop by the looks of it, but it hadn't made it any easier for them. I looked back at Buster, who had a similar look on his face.

"So where's the hundred thousand dollars?" Johnny asked Buster. Everyone had their own reaction, but due to his accent, you could hear him over the others. They all started to crowd around Buster.

A slight cracking sound was heard coming from the stage, we all looked down to find the glass starting to crack due to the weight and pressure being put on it. It wasn't too long before the tank had sprung a leak.

"Run." I told Layla and Miles, "Now."

 **Layla's POV**

We started to make our way from the stage, but it was too late, the tanks had burst and flooded the entire auditorium, spreading to the rest of the theatre. I screamed as the current pulled me under. I didn't swim well and everything was coming apart around us. I grabbed onto one of the poles and pulled my head up above the water's surface, so I can breathe. Johnny surfaced next to me.

"Layla, we have to leave." He urged upon seeing me cling to the pole.

"I can't swim very well." I argued frantically.

"And you like the beach?" He replied narrow his eyes, "Do you know how little sense that makes?" He asked, but before I could retort, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then hold on." He replied firmly. He pulled me close to him and we went under the water.

In a mad flash of water, destruction, and debris, we all washed up in the middle of the street.

"Are you okay?" Johnny choked out as he helped me to my feet.

I nodded, "Are you?"

"I'll be fine." He replied.

"Thank you." I told him sincerely.

"I owed you for helping me with the cops." He remarked, "Just repaying you for that."

"Johnny-" I started.

"Why did you lie to me?" He asked hurt.

"I didn't." I replied firmly, "I didn't say anything about the money."

"You could have told me."

"It wasn't for me to tell and we were trying to get the money."

"Is everyone okay?" Buster asked all of us.

"We're all alive." Miles groaned in pain as he got up, "I don't know if that's the same thing."

A loud rumbling started to come from the theatre, we all turned around to see what was going on, and then it completely crumbled down right before our eyes. In a cloud of smoke, it was gone. My heart practically stopped at the sight, sinking as I started to register what had just happened. The Moon Theatre and everything in it had been destroyed, and within the wreckage was everything I had left of my parents.

"Layla?"

I looked down at Miles, who was standing on the other side of me. We were the only two left other than Buster, Heather, and Mrs. Crawly. "It's gone."

"I know." He replied, "Are you going to be okay?"

"They're gone, Miles."

"I know." He responded, "Look, Layla, I have an extra room in my apartment. If you want, you could live with me until I can talk to my landlord. Someone just moved out of my building, I think I might be able to talk him about letting you rent the apartment."

"Why would you…" I started to ask, but I couldn't find the words.

"Because you are the closest thing I have to a friend."

 **Heather's POV**

Mrs. Crawly and I tried to comfort Buster, but it was no use. How do you truly comfort someone who's lost practically everything in one fell swoop? You can't, other than just being there. I knelt down beside him and held him as he cried, clinging on to the silver bucket that had belonged to his father. It had been the only thing to survive in the destruction and the one thing keeping him from losing it. I didn't say anything to him, neither did Mrs. Crawly, there were no words that were going to help him or that he'd listen to.

"Miss Greyson?" Mrs. Crawly asked to get my attention. I looked up at her. "What is going to happen with the bank?"

Both she and Buster were looking at me now. I couldn't give them an answer that would definite or one where I could actually say that they wouldn't lose the rights to the theatre's location. I couldn't buy it for them for a multitude of reasons, one of them being, it was a conflict of interest while I still had a job with the bank.

"I don't know." I answered, "I'll talk to Judith."

"Our deal with Judith, it's off, isn't it?" Buster managed to choke out.

"Most likely," I answered honestly, "But I can't give a definite answer. I can let you both know as soon as I do."

"Thank you, Miss Greyson." Mrs. Crawly replied.

I let go of Buster and stood, "I wish I could stay, but I have to go back to work." I looked down at Buster, "I'll call you when I find something out."

Buster never replied before I left for the bank and the next day the destruction of the theatre was all over the news. Within the next few days, it was on every news station, it was inescapable. I had tried to call Buster, but he wouldn't pick up his phone. I had to tell him over voicemail that the bank was dead set on foreclosing his theatre and selling the property to another buyer. After listening to the news for a good twenty minutes, I turned it off, changed into my suit, and went into work early.

Being at work wasn't helpful either, Judith was positively giddy at the fact that the Moon Theatre wasn't one of her clients anymore and that she could foreclose the property. This was a woman who didn't express emotion other than contempt and annoyance, and when she did, she had the emotional range of a toothpick. I listened to her drone on and on for almost an hour about her plans for the space for the theatre and the clients who were interested in buying out the property from Buster before I couldn't take it anymore.

"I quit." I told her abruptly.

"What did you just say?" She asked, stopping what she was doing and looking up at me.

"I don't need this job. I don't need your callousness, your abrasive mannerisms, or your disheartening schadenfreude." I explained simply, standing, "I am better off without your negative attitude and any job would be better and less stressful than working here. And I don't need it." I then reiterated, "I quit. Today is my last day, I will pack up my desk now and leave. I wish your next assistant the best of luck, they're going to need it." I hopped from the chair and went my desk, relishing the gapping look of shock on her face. I packed up the few things that I had at my desk into a box and went home feeling pretty triumphant. It wasn't until I actually got home and had no one to tell about my victory that I felt pretty empty. It wasn't just that I had no one to tell, but I didn't have Buster to talk to. I had been so used to seeing Buster every day and talking to him about almost everything that I didn't realize how miserable I would feel when I didn't have him.

 **Layla's POV**

It took a few weeks, but Miles made good on his promise. He was able to convince the landlord, Harry, to let me rent an apartment on the second floor, which he had yet to advertise. I had also gotten a job at Allais Bookstore, a used bookstore that was not too far from the apartment, as well as hostess at an IHOP that was close to my apartment. After my first few paychecks and with a little help (okay, a lot of help) from Miles, who had a job as barista at a Starbucks two blocks away and also taught drum lessons every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, I went on Amazon and Ikea, and bought all of the things I needed to furnish the apartment. I also bought an air mattress, a sleeping bag, and a few other essentials from REI, a week's worth of groceries from Trader Joes, an HP laptop from Best Buy, and then went to Target for some new clothes and anything else I needed. I'm glad that I hadn't really spent any wages that I had made from the theatre or most of the money that I had inherited when my parents passed away, I was using quite a bit of it now. I had been pretty much a homebody living at the Moon that I only spent money when I had to. Also since Buster was my guardian, he paid for most of the things that I needed.

The one thing I hadn't been able to do in the past few weeks was get a hold of Buster, he refused to answer his phone. A week after I had moved into my apartment, Eddie ended up taking pity on me and calling me to let me know that Buster was with him. He was sulking and not really doing much of anything, but he was alive. He was going to give him a few more weeks considering the astronomical loss of the theatre, the last of his reputation, and his entire career. According to Eddie, he hadn't contacted Heather either. He hadn't been ready to face anyone.

That was the difference between me and Buster. I hadn't really stopped to think about everything that had happened and everything that I had lost. I had lost the theatre, my home, all of my belongings, and everything that had reminded me of my parents. I had lost my friendship with Meena. Buster's become distant. I had lost Johnny. I've lost everything important to me. If I stop and think about everything that I've lost and what it means going forward, I won't be able to let go of it or move on. I'll be able to be stuck in those memories, in my head, and I can't let myself do it. I have to keep moving forward. I have Miles and Eddie, and Buster will be back eventually. Eddie was trying to keep him sane.

All of this weighed on my mind as I walked home from my job at IHOP, it was harder to push the thoughts when I was on my own. I stopped to check the mail before I went up to my apartment.

"So, you're the new 2203, Miles had mentioned we had a new neighbor." I heard someone to say next to me when I opened my mailbox. I looked over my right shoulder to find a tigress looking over at me with a friendly smile. A tiger was standing next to her carrying a package under one arm and holding a baby girl cub in his other arm. The tigress had two little tigers standing on either side of her. "I'm Lilly and this is my husband Diego and these are our kids, Dustin, Xander, and Zoe. We're 2202, the corner apartment next to you. It's nice to meet you."

I could tell by Diego's face that he wasn't a social and didn't like to be, but he loved his wife, who clearly liked interacting with others, so he would do it for her. He gave me a quick 'Nice to meet you'. I returned the gesture with a smile.

"If you ever need anything, just knock on our door." Lilly offered.

"Thank you." I replied, "The same goes for you as well. If you ever would like to go out and need a sitter, let me know."

"Really?" Lilly asked interested. By her tone, it sounded like her and Diego hadn't had a night to themselves in a long time.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"We might take you up on that." Lilly responded, "Thanks."

"Anytime." I replied.

"Well, we'll see you around." Lilly told me and they went upstairs.

I took out the few things I had in my mail box and then went up to my apartment to find Miles standing outside.

"You're a little late tonight." Miles greeted, "What'd you forget about Superhero Friday?"

"No, I had to work a little later than usual." I responded and opened my door, "How long have you been waiting?"

"About five minutes." He shrugged, "Came down earlier, but you hadn't gotten back yet."

"What are we watching tonight?" I asked him, since he was the one who brought the DVDs. Superhero Friday was something Miles had come up with to help me cope. We had something for each day of the week, but since we both didn't have to work Saturdays, we did something bigger on Friday.

"Well, I've got three choices for the marathon tonight." He said pulling out the DVDs from his bag, "X-Men movie marathon and then streaming Legion, the Flash season one, and Guardians of the Galaxy."

"All of them." I decided as we walked inside.

"That would go into Saturday night." He pointed out.

"And?" I asked, shutting the door behind us.

"Okay!" He smiled widely, "More of a party for us then. What do you wanna start off with?"

"Guardians, then Flash, then X-Men." I listed off.

"Beginning and ending with Marvel?" He asked, "Really?"

"Might as well start and end with the better franchise, even if two different companies own it."

"That isn't fair."

"Here is what's fair, overall Marvel has the better movies and the better constructed cinematic universe." I told him, "DC movies are hit and miss for the most part and as long as Zach Snyder or David Ayer have anything to do with them, I doubt I will be finding one that I like anytime soon. I could never get into the Dark Knight movies. Green Lantern was a mess. I didn't like Man of Steel. I wasn't fond of Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad was atrocious."

"Atrocious is a strong word."

"Yet it is perfectly fitting for that abominable catastrophe of a film. Really, I would rather watch the '89 Keaton Batman any day over any DC movie coming out now because at least I know I'll enjoy it." I replied, "I actually was introduced to comics and superhero films through DC, so I feel a little bad when I say I prefer Marvel films to DC. Where DC actually shines is in its TV shows and the universe it is creating through those. The DC shows for the most part are very good. If they were able to do what they're doing now with their TV shows with their films then they could possibly be better. Everyone has their preferences though." I went into the kitchen and pulled two Strongbow cherry blossom ciders from the fridge and handed him one, "Chinese or Pizza?" I asked showing him the takeout menus.

"Pizza." He decided, "So if you don't like Zach Snyder, did you like Watchman?"

"No." I answered, putting the Chinese takeout menu away, "I thought it was boring and a waste of time. I didn't like Sucker Punch either." I replied, before calling the pizza place to put in what had basically become our usual order.

 **Heather's POV**

"How is he, Eddie?" I asked, while I was putting together dinner. Eddie and I had been talking to each other pretty much weekly since the theatre was destroyed. It had gotten to the point that I was more comfortable calling him Eddie than Edward now.

"He's the same." Eddie answered, and then changed the subject. He didn't seem to want to talk about Buster, most likely because he was with him. Well, that and he had me on speaker phone for some reason. "How are you doing?"

"I quit my job at the bank."

"What do mean you quit?"

"I quit."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was tired of being belittled and decided to stand up for myself." I replied before my oven started beeping and smoke started to come out of the come out of the oven. "Shit! Why didn't I ever learn to cook?" I asked as I opened my oven, trying to save my dinner, to find it on fire. "Eddie I have to let you go." I hung up and then put out the fire. "I should have made pasta." I stated as I looked around the mess that I now had to clean. I got the cleaning supplies out of the hall closet and started to clean the kitchen. I'll have to order in takeout later.


	10. Chapter 10: Just What I Needed

**AN: Hello everyone, how are you all doing? I've had a pretty good day, but that's mostly because I just saw the clip of 'Belle', the opening number of Beauty and the Beast, and I'm even more excited than I was before. I've already read the novelization of the remake coming out in March and I can't wait to see it. Why can't it be March already?** **You guys are not here for that though, you guys are here for Sing, which you guys have been so great when it comes to this story. I've had more of following for this story that is much more than I expected when I first started writing it. Thank you for that, you all are amazing and I hope you all keep enjoying the story.**

 **This is a short chapter, well shorter than the past couple of chapters, it's mostly setting up for a couple of things that are going to happen as the story progresses. I've only got a half an hour of the movie left to write, so after I finish writing the chapters for the movie. I don't know how much I'll write after that. I know I won't end it until everything's tied up nicely, but right now it's up in the air.**

 **I hope all of you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Ten: Just What I Needed**

 **Miles' POV**

"Hey, you just got an email about your roommate advertisement." I told Layla as I pulled up Legion on her laptop on Saturday night. Streaming it was the only way we could watch it at the moment.

"This soon?" She asked as I handed her the laptop, so she could see the email. We had both put out advertisements for the extra bedrooms we had, so it would be easier to afford the rent. "She's gonna be here tomorrow morning."

"Well, it's a good thing you don't have to work until tomorrow afternoon." I responded as she replied to the email. She handed me her laptop back when she finished and I pulled up the show. She got us another couple of bottles of cherry blossom cider, two bowls of coconut M&Ms and I started the show. "Where did you find these?"

"I know a guy."

"Layla."

"I was visiting my Uncle Joey-"

"Which one's that one?" I asked, "The one in jail for organized crime or hitman?"

"Organized crime." She answered, and then continued, "So, I was visit my Uncle Joey like I do every couple of months, I bring him books so he can stay somewhat sane. Anyway, while I was giving him these amazing copies of The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde and Wuthering Heights as well as a collection of Victorian ghost stories that I found-"

"Isn't Wuthering Heights a romance novel?"

"No, it's a Victorian revenge story that people confuse for a love story when it can't be further from the truth." She replied, "And my uncle happens to like Victorian horror novels and ghost stories as well as romance novels. Actually, he loves Wharton's novels" She added, before continuing with her story, "So anyway he asked me if there was anything that I wanted for any early birthday present since I wouldn't be seeing him until after my birthday in May and I told him that I didn't need anything, but he insisted. I joked thinking that he couldn't really get me anything due to the fact that he was in prison and said that if there was a way I could get coconut M&Ms, I would want those. A couple of days ago four huge boxes arrived at my door. I opened them and they were filled with bags upon bags of coconut M&Ms. I have enough to last me at least a year."

"You know I could take a bag off your hands." I offered.

"I don't share food." She turned it down immediately.

"You're sharing food with me now." I pointed out.

"You have your own bowl." She replied, "I gave you food."

 **Ash's POV**

"Hey, you've got a tour of an apartment tomorrow morning." Zach told me, handing me a piece of paper with an advertisement for a room of an apartment in the city.

"What are you talking about?"

"I found an advertisement for an apartment, something you were supposed to be looking for, and I answered it for you." Zach explained, "You have a meeting and tour with the tenant tomorrow."

"What the hell, Zach?"

"Try to be there on time." He left.

I looked down at the paper. What could it hurt right? I mean it'd be nice to have a room to myself and it would be easier living with another girl than living with my brother. It had to be. It's not that I don't like being around Zach, and Jake, and everyone, but I liked living on my own. I preferred it.

 **Layla's POV**

The next morning at half past nine, there was a knock at the door. They were fifteen minutes early, at least I was smart enough to wake up earlier than nine and not to drink enough to be hung over this morning. I opened the door to find Ash.

"Hey." I greeted her, not really knowing if this a good idea anymore or not. I don't know how she really feels about everything that happened. I really wish she had put a name on her response when she answered it, at least I would have been prepared.

"Layla?" She greeted in surprise. That didn't make sense, she was the one who answered my ad. Why would she be surprised that I live here?

"You seem surprised."

"My brother answered the advertisement." She told me, "I didn't know about it until after he replied. He just gave me an address and a time."

"Are you still interested in the room?"

"I came all the way here."

"Okay." I replied, letting her in, "C'mon on in."

She came inside, I shut the door behind her, and I showed her around the apartment.

 **Miles' POV**

While I was on my break, I went through my phone to check my texts. I only had two from this morning. One from Layla and the other from an unknown number who was interested in the spare bedroom. The dude had to common of a name for me to know who he was other than that he was a dude. I mean, how many girls are named Johnny? I texted the dude back and asked him if he had time to come by this afternoon. I had the early shift, I'd be back home by two this afternoon. If he came at like three of three thirty, I'd be able to meet with him and show him around the place. I took a drink of my smoked butterscotch frappuccino and texted him back giving him a time. I got a response with in ten minutes saying that he'd be there.

"It can't be the same guy." I immediately dismissed the notion of it being Johnny from the theatre. It would have been too coincidental. I took another drink from the frappe, "That's like the most popular name ever."

 **Layla's POV**

"So any questions?" I asked her after I finished showing Ash around.

"Yeah." She replied, "When can I move in?"

"As early as tomorrow morning, if you want." I replied, "I have to work, so I wouldn't be able to help at all. At least today, you'd be able to talk to the landlord about the rent and a key, so you can move your stuff in tomorrow or whenever. My work schedule's pretty hectic, so I'm not really here much. I do have Saturdays off though and half of Sundays, but usually during the week I'm gone. I do hang out with one of the other tenants and they come over some nights through the week, which you're more than welcome to join us. We're just a couple of nerds hanging out with pizza and movies."

"Sounds like fun." She replied, "What kinds of movies?"

"Monday's Guilty Pleasure films, so we switch off on picking a movie that we know is awful and that we still love or a so bad it's good movie." I explained, "Tuesday is Sci-Fi and Fantasy films, so it would be maybe a Star Wars film or Star Trek, or it could be Harry Potter, Narnia, or Lord of the Rings. As long as it's a sci-fi or fantasy film in some way. Wednesday is Animation, which can be anything from anime to Disney or Dreamworks. That category is pretty open for interpretation as long as there's no live action. Thursday is Action and Crime movies, that covers everything from basically covers everything from movies like The Untouchables to movies like Spy or The Heat. Friday is Superhero movies, but it is also open to other comic book movies like Red or Kingsman. It just has to be based on a comic. Fridays are also open to TV shows, and they usually end up being marathons because neither of us work on Saturdays. Sundays are typically musicals or movies revolve around the music industry."

"What's Saturday?"

"Depends if we finish the marathon on Friday." I shrugged, "It's usually anything we want to watch. Sometimes it's a drama or biopic, or it could be period films, or it could be a show. If we've finished with the marathon from Friday, then its movies that one or both of us haven't seen. The only genre we won't put on is horror."

"Why?"

"Neither of us do well with it." I replied, and then looked down at my watch, "I have to go to work, but you can move in whenever you're ready. Harry should be able to give you a key. If you want help during the day, I won't be able to help until Saturday."

"No, it's okay." She replied as we headed towards the door, "I don't really have anything to move, just my bags and a guitar."

"Oh cool."

We both headed out of the apartment, I locked the door, and we went our separate ways.

 **Miles' POV**

The dude arrived closer to three thirty than three, which I didn't mind, it gave me more time to eat before he came. I opened the door to find Johnny, the one that I had known from the theatre. My jaw dropped. What were the odds? Although, with his dad in prison, I guess I could see why he'd want to move.

"Hey man, you wanna come in?" I asked, letting him in.

"Thanks."

I gave him a short tour around the place that ended with both of us in the kitchen talking over a couple of bottles of Guinness. It's not like there was much to show, just a bedroom, bathroom, common space, and kitchen. The dude was pretty chill and didn't seem to be bothered by much.

"So you interested in the room?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He nodded, "When can I move in?"

"As early as tonight if you want." I replied, "Oh, um-" I started to mention that Layla also lives in the complex, but changed my mind, "Do you like movies?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Me and one of the other tenants like to hang out with each other and watch movies." I told him. Layla would hopefully thank me later maybe. "It's a nightly thing we do, so neither of us has to eat alone. You can join us if you want."

"That'd be great." Johnny replied.

After we finished our drinks, we went down to see Harry and get everything settled so he could rent the room, and then we took his truck, so that we could get everything he wanted or needed in the apartment. He didn't really have anything to move, so it only took the two of us one trip to get everything and about a couple of hours to get him moved in.

 **Heather's POV**

A few days after my phone conversation with Eddie, we met for dinner at Cleo, a Mediterranean restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard.

"I thought you were bring Buster." I commented after the hostess sat us at our table.

"I can't convince him to get into one of his suits." He replied, "Did you really think I could convince him to leave the pool house to come all the way to Hollywood?"

"Yes." I answered pointedly, "Someone has to talk some sense into him."

"You don't think I've tried?"

"No, I don't." I retorted, "He won't speak to me, he hasn't spoken to Layla, which you'd think he'd at least try to contact since she's his daughter, and he barely speaks to you. From everything that you've told me, it's going to take more than the two of us to get him out of..." I paused trying to think of how to put it, but I was at a loss. "Get him out of himself, I guess. Eddie, he needs help. Just sitting by and letting him do his own thing at this point isn't helping him, he needs to get back up. He needs to get back out there."

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, "He doesn't want to do anything."

"I don't know."

"You don't know and you're lecturing me?"

"At least I know that doing something about is better than watching him and letting him waste his life."

"I've known him-"

"Longer, I'm well aware, but that doesn't diminish how much I care for him." I told him before he could finish his sentence, and then sighed, "Let me see if I can figure out something that will help him, just try to not let him fall any deeper than what he is now."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet." I answered as the waitress came, "I'll figure something out."


	11. Chapter 11: Us

**AN: Hello everyone, I hope you all are enjoying your day.** **I will say this now, so I don't get in trouble. I don't own any of Shakespeare's plays, but since it is public domain, I am allowed to use it in my story as long as I'm quoting from the original text. I have two scenes in here where I have a couple of characters reciting and in a way almost rewriting scenes from two of Shakespeare's plays (the first is a famous tragedy and the other is a comedy). I don't own them, but I do own (and share) the character's feelings on the tragedy that is played around with in this chapter. This scene in this chapter does make one of the characters involved a little OOC, but in all honesty the movie doesn't give much to work with for character development and I thought it'd be fun for the character to have a hidden talent.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Eleven: Us**

 **Layla's POV**

The movie nights were put on hold for the next couple of weeks. With Miles and I picking up extra shifts for work and both of our roommates settling in, we didn't have the time. We ended up not hanging out until a couple of Fridays after both of our roommates moved in, so they could actually join us. The movie theme for tonight sort of went out the window, or at least it did for this week. It was mostly done so both of our roommates could pick movies and not feel restricted to a certain type of film.

"Yeah, think again." I told Ash as slid the bottle of Strongbow out of her hands, which she had gotten from the fridge, before she could open it. We had been putting dinner together for the four of us. It was simple, just frozen pizza and nachos. We didn't make a big deal of it. I put the cider back in the fridge and reminded her, "You're still nineteen."

"You're not my parent."

"No, I'm not, but I am the one who is paying for it." I responded, "I have butterbeer in the fridge."

"What?"

"Butterbeer?" I replied as I took out a couple of bottles, "You know the soda from Harry Potter? There's a candy store in the mall that sells candies and chocolates from all over the globe and they just happened to be there, so I bought a couple of cases."

"I never really got into Harry Potter."

"Oh." I replied after a few moments. I wasn't really sure what to say to that, it had never really occurred to me that that was a thing. It baffled me how anyone couldn't like it. "Well, the soda kind of tastes like butterscotch, you might like it."

A knock at the door saved me from the awkwardness of the conversation that was unfolding. I opened the door to a whole new awkward and uncomfortable situation, Johnny was Miles' new roommate.

"Hey, Layla." Miles greeted as he walked inside, "You know my roommate, Johnny."

"Hey." I greeted Johnny unsurely.

"Hey." He replied after a few moments.

"C'mon in." I invited him in.

"Thanks." He went inside and I shut the door behind him.

Tonight wasn't going to be weird at all.

 **Heather's POV**

"If I can convince enough people to put on an outdoor performance, you would consider investing in the reconstruction of the theatre." I reiterated our deal to Nana to make sure that I understood her correctly when she agreed to my proposal during dinner.

This was step one of my plan, which I was still trying to put together. The first step was to get Nana behind the idea of possibly partially fund rebuilding the theatre. Once I got her on the project, I would find a way to get in touch with someone who might be able to get everyone else on board. If the show went well, then the theatre would be rebuilt and employees would be hired to run the theatre as it should be, and this go around, they'd also get a steady paycheck. If we were able to get the theatre up and running, all of the finances would go through me and the account would be going to a different bank.

"I will not be paying for the reconstruction, Miss Greyson." She stated, "I will donate to the cause if you are that adamant; however, you will be paying for the theatre. I'm sure you can find a way to do so anonymously as you do for many of your other charity cases."

"The Moon Theatre is not a charity case." I replied, "If it had had the funding that it needed and if department was running the way it should have been, instead of everything being done by three or four animals."

"What do you plan to do once the theatre is rebuilt?" She asked pointedly. With that question, I explained her the small chunk of the plan that I had so far.

 **Layla's POV**

It only took about a half an hour for me to break out the alcohol. Nights like this make me wish I had stronger drinks. If all of us were having an awkward and uncomfortable night, we would have ended it sooner. Ash and Miles were having a great night though, both of them chattering away about different bands and movies while we were watching Hot Fuzz. By this point, Johnny was the only one paying attention to the movie. Miles and Ash were talking to each other and I had the Amazon Kindle app on my phone. In January, Disney released the novelization of their live action remake coming out in March. I've read it about three and a half times since I bought it and had the new film basically memorized except for the songs.

"It's movie night and you're reading?" Miles asked me, noticing the way I was positioned with my phone, "Seriously?"

"It's still movie themed." I responded, "It's a novelization of a film."

"You never read movie novelizations, you don't think there's a point if you can watch the movie." Miles said starting to connect the dots, "The only way you'd read one is if it's a movie coming out that you're nervous about and you wanted to make sure it was good and you happened to come across the book version on Amazon. There's only one movie coming out this year that has you anxious and that's-" He had finally connected the dots, "We were supposed to see that together. Have you already got the soundtrack too?"

"No, that doesn't come out till the 10th." I replied sheepishly.

"I didn't realize you guys were so close." Ash commented.

"We're not." Miles and I replied.

"No, you just eat together, hang out, go to movies…" Ash smirked. She already knew there was nothing there between the two of us. Anyone who had been a room with us for five minutes would know that.

"We're just two single people who hate to be alone." I replied before going back to my phone, which was slid out of my hands by Miles. "Miles!"

"No, we're here to hang out with each other." He replied, sliding the phone into his pocket, "I don't give a shit about what's going on between you two." He gestured to me and Johnny. He turned to Johnny, "Yeah, we lied about the money, but in our defense, those flyers went out before we even knew about the mistake made on them. We didn't know and to help Buster, we lied so you guys would stay. And I'm glad we did or we wouldn't know either one of you. We all had a plan to find a way to get the money for the winner. The two of us even had a bet going for who would win." Miles told him and then turned back to me, "You know we made a rule against being on your phone or reading during movie night. And not only did you break that rule, which was your own rule, you read the movie that we were supposed to see together." He paused for a moment, "Ash and I are going to have our own movie night since we are enjoying each other's company, you two can sort out whatever tonight, so next week we can try this again." Miles looked over at Ash, "You up for watching Avatar?"

She shrugged, "Sure."

They left, shutting the door behind them.

"That moron still has my phone." I shook my head in disbelief.

Johnny sighed, "One of us will get it back to you in the morning."

"I don't feel too bad about it though." I commented, "That movie sucks."

"I can't say that I've seen it."

"If you've seen Ferngully and Romeo and Juliet, or any movies like those, you basically have the plot of Avatar." I replied, "It's a poorly written movie that had good CGI and special effects for the time. I could never get behind it because of the plot. After a while, it just got boring. There were too many ties to other films that were much better. Not that Romeo and Juliet is that good, it's over hyped and everyone thinks it's about love when it's not."

Johnny looked at me as if I had grown two heads, "You don't like Romeo and Juliet?"

"I can't stand Romeo and Juliet." I responded, "There are too many things wrong with it."

"Please explain what's wrong with one of the most famous plays by one of the best playwrights of all time." He challenged. Not that I didn't have it coming, I guess it's kind of what I get for telling a guy from the UK that Romeo and Juliet is terrible. I turned around to face him, I never really get to go into this rant because Miles, Mrs. Crawly, and Buster all like the play.

"The play starts out with Romeo being in love with Rosaline." I started, "He's supposedly completely and hopelessly in love with her until he sees Juliet, whom may I point out is thirteen where Romeo is between 18 and 23. Anyway when he sees her, all of his feelings for Rosaline seem to disappear. So just from the beginning scenes, and I won't go into the creepy age gap because it was a different time period, Juliet is established as the rebound for Rosaline and Romeo is established as fickle. The only reason Romeo desires Juliet is because he likes how she looks and she's young and naïve and can mend his broken heart."

"What about love at first sight?"

"That doesn't exist." I answered and then moved on to my next point, "Another problem is that Romeo and Juliet only know each other for a day before they get married. Seriously, if you actually read the play, the whole thing takes place in a matter of days. On a Sunday night, Romeo goes the Capulet's party and meets Juliet, they get married the next day, and then they die a few days later. Love doesn't happen in a day. Physical attraction does. Lust most certainly can. Not love though, you actually have to know someone for much longer than a few days to love them." I explained and then moved on to my next point, "The balcony scene is monotonous and kind of creepy."

"Why?"

"For the creepy part, Romeo is a stalker." I told him, "He's standing under her balcony just listening to her and watching her actions. I don't care what the time period is or how much in love you think you are, you just don't do that. It's creepy."

"And why is it boring?"

"That's just my personal opinion." I shrugged, "If I was actually in a relationship where me and the other person were actually in love with one another and had our own balcony scene, I would do it differently and make shorter."

"Show me." He said slightly amused.

"What?" I asked confused.

"I want to see this balcony scene of yours."

"What?" I asked again, "Am I supposed to act it out?"

"Yeah." He answered. I'm not sure if it was the three bottles of Strongbow I had consumed or the long awaited desire to do this, but either way I agreed.

I stood on top of the ottoman, "Okay, so this is going to be my balcony." I told him, "And I'm going to need you to stand against that wall." I pointed on the opposite side of me.

"I'm in this?" He asked.

"I need someone to play off of." I reasoned. He did as I asked and went to the spot I had pointed to against the wall. "So, let's say we were in the play, you're standing under the balcony and I've just come out on to the balcony. And since you're Romeo, you would say your aside, which we can-"

 _"_ _She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art_

 _As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,_

 _As is a wingèd messenger of heaven_

 _Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes_

 _Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him_

 _When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds_

 _And sails upon the bosom of the air."_ He recited.

"Okay, you know the play." I commented slightly impressed, "Although a tough guy like you reciting Shakespeare is a little surprising."

"We all have our hidden talents."

"Reciting Shakespeare?"

"I happen to like Shakespeare." He replied, "Go on."

"Okay, but I'm going with the translated version." I replied, getting back into character, "Oh Romeo, why do you have to be Romeo? Forget about your father and change your name. Or else, if you won't change your name, just swear you love me and I'll stop being a Capulet."

" _Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?_ " He recited.

"It's only your name that's my enemy. You'd still be yourself even if you stopped being a Montague. What's a Montague anyway? It isn't a hand, a foot, an arm, a face, or any other part of a man. What does a name mean? The thing we call a rose would smell just as sweet if we called it by any other name. Romeo would be just as perfect even if he wasn't called Romeo. Romeo, lose your name. Trade in your name and take all of me in exchange."

 _"_ _I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."_ He recited, taking a small step forward.

"Okay, here is where we go off course." I told him.

"Alright." He replied, "How would you do it differently?"

"Just go with me, okay?"

"I'm going along with it, Layla." He responded genuinely, "I'm standing here and reciting Shakespeare, you have me."

"Okay, back in scene, just go with whatever comes to mind. We have to play off each other for this to work." I told him, "Can you repeat Romeo's line?"

He nodded, _"I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."_

"My love?" I asked.

"I am here, my darling." He reassured.

"I'll come down to you." I told him, and then explained, "Break from the scene, so my version of Juliet, who has known the version of Romeo that you're playing longer and they're much closer than age and there was no Rosaline, so anyway she climbs down the balcony to see her Romeo because their friendship has helped them fall in love."

"So, you're just rewriting the whole play at this point."

"Sure." I answered, stepping off the ottoman, "Okay, I'm down from the balcony and now were going back to the scene." I told him, and then softly placed my hand on his cheek, "What are you doing here? You know what could happen if you're caught."

He placed a hand on mine, "I needed to see you. I don't want us to be apart any longer." He improvised, taking both of hands in his.

"Neither do I." I responded to his line with one of my own, "If we left Verona tonight and eloped, we could be together."

"Where would we go?"

"Anywhere." I implored, "We could sail to England or traveled to France."

"Are you sure?"

"If you are willing to trade you're life, I am happy to trade mine, so we both can start anew."

"I love you."

"And I you." I told him, kissing him gently since that's what I had imagined next in the scene. I pulled away, "Um, end scene."

"Interesting way to change it."

"Yeah, this way no one dies." I responded, not knowing really what to say.

"So are there any plays that you do like?"

"Oh yeah, I love Shakespeare." I responded, "Just not that one, actually, I'm not big on Merchant of Venice either."

"What's your favorite?"

"Much Ado about Nothing." I answered, "It's the only one I know by heart."

M **iles' POV**

"Are we actually going to watch Avatar?" Ash asked me as I flipped through my movies.

"Not unless you want to." I replied, "I really only mentioned the film to get Layla talking. She hates it and every time she talks about Avatar, she goes on a tangent about Romeo and Juliet and all the things wrong with it. Johnny likes Shakespeare, so does Layla, but he actually likes Romeo and Juliet."

"How did you know he likes Shakespeare?"

"I was explaining the different movie nights, and as you know, Sunday is plays and musicals, and he happened to mention that he liked Shakespeare and performed it a lot for his drama classes in high school." I explained, "Romeo and Juliet was one that he happened to have been given to memorize, the other being Much Ado about Nothing, which just so happens to be Layla's favorite play."

"You just played them off of each other." She surmised.

"I did." I happily admitted it, "And with any luck, he'll be down there tonight." I changed the subject, "So how's that song you were talking about yesterday coming?"

We had actually run into each other in the mailroom yesterday. I was picking up a package and she happened to be picking up her and Layla's mail at the same time. We got to talking and I told her the whole spiel about the prize money, the theatre, and how we found out about everything. She was pretty chill about the whole thing.

"It's coming alright." She replied, "I'm just trying to figure out a couple of verses."

"Cool." I responded as a move caught my eye, "You like Die Hard at all?"

"Yeah, my brother and I used to watch it every year for Christmas."

"I've got the first three, if you're interested."

"Sure." Ash agreed, "Should we ask Layla and Johnny if they want to join us?"

I laughed, "No, I think they may be a little too busy reciting Shakespeare to one another."

"You don't think they'd really waste their time doing that?"

"Everyone has their turn-ons." I shrugged and put in the DVD

 **Layla's POV**

"So who's your favorite character from Much Ado about Nothing?" Johnny asked seeming pretty happy we had some common ground again. We had been sitting on the couch for an bit just talking about the play.

"Beatrice and Benedick." I replied as if it were obvious, "They have the best relationship of the entire play, possibly in all of the works of Shakespeare."

"Even though they were set up and tricked into their relationship?"

"They had a long running battle of wits before they were tricked and by the end they were confessing their love to one another which was proven by Hero and Claudio." I replied, "Which is one of the best scenes."

"You mean this scene?" He asked, " _Soft and fair, Friar.—Which is Beatrice?_ "

I smiled widely, "You know this one too?"

"Yes, it's one of the only two I have memorized." He responded, "Do you want to do the scene?"

"Yes!" I replied excitedly, "You know I think if the theatre had put on more Shakespeare, we would have probably had a bigger audience attending our shows." I added, and then went into the scene, " _I answer to that name. What is your will?_ "

" _Do not you love me?_ " He asked plainly.

I shook my head, " _Why no, no more than reason._ "

" _Why then, your uncle and the Prince and Claudio_

 _Have been deceived. They swore you did._ "

" _Do not you love me?_ " I asked.

He shook his head, " _Troth, no, no more than reason._ "

" _Why then, my cousin, Margaret, and Ursula_

 _Are much deceived, for they did swear you did._ "

" _They swore that you were almost sick for me._ " He laughed.

I smiled, " _They swore that you were well-nigh dead for me._ "

" _'Tis no such matter._ " He responded, " _Then you do not love me?_ "

" _No, truly, but in friendly recompense._ "

"And then Leonato tries to persuade Beatrice that she does." Johnny pointed out.

"And Claudio proves that Benedick does by showing off a sonnet written by Benedick for Beatrice." I added.

"And Hero does the same," Johnny responded, "Which Benedick sees the poem and says, _'A miracle! Here's our own hands against our hearts. Come, I will have thee, but, by this light, I take thee for pity.'"_

" _I would not deny you, but, by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion, and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption._ "

He smirked, " _Peace! I will stop your mouth._ " He kissed me softly at first, however, as it continued it started to become more passionate.

I pulled away, slightly perplexed due to the intensity of the kiss, "Was that because it's in the scene or because you wanted to?"

"I'll let you figure that out." He replied and then changed the subject, "You wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure?" I responded, "Anything you had in mind?"

"Not really."

"You wanna watch Kingsman?"

"The spy movie?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Sure." He agreed. I went and got the blu-ray and put it in.

 **Heather's POV**

It took most of dinner, but I was able to convince Nana to donate a little if I could convince Buster and all of the contestants to go along with the show. She would donate more if the show actually did well. I called Eddie as soon as I got back in my apartment.

"Hey Eddie, Nana's agreed to donate some money towards the theatre." I told him when he picked up the phone, "I'm just going to need to convince everyone to put on the show. Do you have Layla's or Miles' number?"

"I've only got Layla's, but she lives in the same building as he does." He replied before rattling off the number. I thanked him and then called Layla. I tried twice and both times it went to her voicemail. I left her a message to call me back on the second try and then tried to call Buster, it was mostly just to see if he would pick up. I missed talking to him, being around him, and working with him. I just missed him. He didn't pick up though, and after three rings, it went to his voice mail. I sighed and left a message, "Hey Buster, I just wanted to see how you were doing. I miss you and I'm here if you want to talk." I hung up the phone and sat down.

A few minutes later, my phone rang and I picked it up.

"Heather?"


	12. Chapter 12: Right Back Where We Started

**AN: Hello everyone. Well for all of you who were excited for the kiss last chapter, you might like the bit in this chapter. Hard to say, I guess it depends on the person.** **This story is still teen rated, so there is nothing graphic for a few reasons. The first being I'm not good at writing them. Another reason is because I'm more used to writing human characters and had to imagine people to write it. I just hope it worked out okay.**

 **I also address who is on the phone with Heather. Really, it one of two choices for me and one of them that I had in mind was a little busy.**

 **This is a short chapter** **and I hope you all enjoy it.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twelve: Right Back Where We Started From**

I almost dropped my phone in shock. After weeks of not hearing anything, I wasn't expecting to be called back, especially not this soon.

"Heather, you still there?" Buster asked again on the other line.

"I'm here." I replied quickly, so he wouldn't hang up, "I'm here. I'm just surprised to hear from you. Happy, but surprised. How are you?"

"I miss you too." He told me. I smiled softly, he had actually listened to the voicemail. He hadn't just called back because he saw my number.

"Would you like to come over tomorrow?" I asked him, "I could make dinner and we could talk."

"You cook?"

"No." I answered honestly, "But I can try."

"Okay." He agreed, "What time?"

"Like around six?" I suggested, and then gave him the address.

"I'll be there." He promised.

 **Layla's POV**

One movie turned into a double feature, which then turned into a small movie marathon, but with each movie, both of us found ourselves paying less and less attention to the TV. I had no clue which movie we were watching now, it was something on TV because we didn't feel like changing the discs anymore. We had been too busy talking to one another, and then, then there was a moment, our eyes locked and it was almost like we had the same thought stirring in both of our minds. I can't remember who started it, who leaned forward first, who accepted, or if it even happened all at the same time. But all it took was a look between the two of us to understand what the other wanted. So there we were on the couch, not paying attention to the film, we were too invested in each other to comprehend what was happening in our surroundings. My arms snaked up his muscular chest and around his neck as he deepened the kiss as we repositioned ourselves on the couch, so that he was on top of me.

When I pulled away from the kiss, his expression turned into one of perplexity.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, "I can-"

"It's not you." I told him, "I think we should probably move and continue this somewhere else in case Ash or Miles happen to come back."

"You sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." I answered, getting out from under him and off the couch. I looked down at him, "You coming?" I offered my hand to him to help him up, he took it.

"Yeah." He answered as I helped him up. I turned off the TV, which happened to have Dirty Dancing on, and looked over at the front door to make sure it was locked, which it was, and then I led him to my room.

When we got inside, I kissed him fiercely, surprising him with the intensity of kiss, and was successfully able to push him against the wall. Once he got over the initial shock, he reciprocated the kiss as he lifted me up, so that he would have more of an advantage, and flipped us around, so that I would be against the wall.

He pulled away as a sudden realization dawned over him, "I don't have any-"

"There's some in the nightstand drawer." I reassured him.

It had been an unopened box that hadn't been used because I could never convince myself to go far enough to need them with Alex. I had bought them in case the moment arose, it never did, and when I moved into the apartment, I thought they'd be good to keep on hand just in case.

I searched his eyes to make sure I was making the right decision with Johnny, the decision I couldn't go through with when I was with Alex, and everything I needed was there. The kindness, caring, and compassion that I had been attracted to, that I seemed to have found myself falling in love with, it was still there. This moment with Johnny, he felt right. Was this the right moment though?

"Johnny, you and me, there's something more going on here than just this, right?"

"I think so." He replied unsurely, "Or at least I hope so. Do you?"

"I think there might be, but I don't know if now is the right moment to take things this far." I admitted, "I think we may be moving a little too fast."

"Okay." He nodded in understanding, setting me down.

"I don't want you to leave though."

"What would you like me to do?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to stay." I told him, "Sleep here tonight."

He smiled softly, "Okay."

 **Mile's POV**

"You might as well sleep here." I told Ash as I came back into my apartment from Layla's. I tossed her keys back to her.

"Why?"

"Something tells me you'll get more sleep here." I answered, not really wanting to go into what I had seen when I went to drop off Layla's phone. It's not like I saw much of anything since it was hard to see them on the couch, but an explicit moan coming from that general direction was enough for me to leave the phone on the table next to the door and lock the apartment on my way out, very grateful that Ash had lent me her keys.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever had a roommate other than your ex?" I answered her question with one of my own.

"No." She replied, "Well my brother for a while, but that wasn't for very long."

"When you lived with him was he da-"

"I'm not playing twenty questions with you, Miles." She told me pointedly.

"Look, I'm offering to let you sleep on my couch because they're going at it." I responded.

She looked at me slightly surprised, "I thought you said they were just going to reciting Shakespeare at one another."

"I guess they found another way to communicate the text."

 **Heather's POV**

The next morning, I tried to look up something, anything, I could make for the two of us for dinner. The problem was, as I had already warned Buster, I have no ability to cook. None. I burn water when I try to boil it. I manage to set the oven on fire when I muster up the courage to use it. I'm a hazard in the kitchen. What am I supposed to make? What can I make that won't kill him? Salad. I could do that. I didn't have to do anything with a salad really other than buy the vegetables and the dressing. Caesar probably be the easiest for me. All I would need to get was the lettuce, the dressing, the parmesan cheese, and croutons. I imputed the food list in my phone as well as a list of wines to look at to pair with the salad such as a pinot or chardonnay, and then left to go to the store.

 **Miles' POV**

"Morning. Have a good night?" I teased Johnny as he walked in the door in the morning. Ash had already left to go back downstairs.

"I did." He replied simply, not saying anything more or less on his night, but quickly changing the subject to mine, "Did you?"

"I would say so." I nodded, "Ash and I watched Die Hard and she fell asleep on my couch."

"Was that the evening you wanted?"

"It's the one I got." I answered, "Did Layla get her phone?"

"She did." He answered as he opened the door to the fridge, took out a pear, and then closed the door, "How much did you see?"

"Enough to let Ash sleep on the couch." I responded, "If you could just text me some type of warning next time, just a heads up, if this is going to be a recurring thing. The walls aren't exactly sound proof." I smirked. I hate to say it, but part of me enjoyed watching the embarrassed expression form and spread across his face. "I've gotta head to work. I'll see ya later, dude." I left the apartment to go to work since I had agreed to cover one of my coworker's shifts who called in sick.

 **Layla's POV**

With Miles working, our regular Saturday movie marathon was canceled. Something told me this wouldn't be the first time, but I didn't mind with all of the other changes that have happened recently. Johnny and Ash were busy as well with unpacking the rest of his room and searching for a job. I was fairly certain I'd see at least Johnny tonight though. With the free time I had, I used it to run errands. I mean I might as well stock the fridge with more than just me and Miles hanging out. I'm competent at using the stove and the oven, so I might as well try to cook, right.

As I walked to the grocery store, I had a YouTube playlist playing on my phone. I lost my iPod in the flood. At this point, I was kind of had the same ten or fifteen songs on repeat. About the time when I was halfway to the store, I had one earbud in and the other out and was singing along with the songs in pure 90's Disney musical fashion. What do I care if I looked crazy? I was happy and this was so much fun. I got a few looks from others, but I gave them a smile, sang the lyric I was on to them, and continued on my way.

"You can sing like that and you never willingly tried out for the competition?" I heard a female voice ask. I looked over to find Heather, who seemed to be heading in the same direction I was.

"Heather, hi." I greeted her unsurely and suddenly feeling self-conscious. I had never really talked to her while she was working for the theatre.

"Hi." She greeted, "You're very talented. I hope you'll actually sing if we can get the show going again."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"You didn't get my message?"

"I didn't have my phone on me last night." I admitted, rubbing my neck, "What's this about the show?"

"I'm trying to gather everyone together, so we can plan out a way to do the show." She responded, "I have two donors who are interested in future of the theatre, but they'd like reassurance in the form of a live show."

"How are we going to do that without a theatre?"  
She answered my question with one of her own, "Have you ever heard of an amphitheatre?"

I smirked, knowing exactly where she was going with this.


	13. Chapter 13: Walk through the Fire

**AN: Hello everyone! So, this chapter is coming out a little later than usual, but it is longer than the chapters usually are. It's about 22 pages in word. Now, if you're expecting it to be mostly on Buster and Heather, it's not. They have their moments, huge moments too, but the chapter takes time for all of the couples. You actually get a lot more backstory on a character that hasn't been given much of backstory and there's a bit more backstory too about another character too. If anyone is a fan of a certain famous fictional vampire slayer, you'll see a few nods to one of the episodes in this. As well to a slight possible reference to a certain show on the Travel Channel.**

 **I do want to also put in here that I do have a certain swear word here, but it's only like one line from one character.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Walk through the Fire**

 **Heather's POV**

With some tips from Layla on the dinner and her promise to reach out to some of the other performers, well the few she had contact with. A few was much better than nobody at this point. She had contact with Miles, Ash, Johnny, and Mrs. Crawley, and she had the ability to reach out to Meena. All that left was Rosita, Gunther, and Mike. If we had a way to reach out to them, we'd possibly have everyone, given that they all say yes, which they might not. We also needed to get Buster to agree, but that was not the topic for tonight. If we happened to breach the topic, I'll be as honest as I can, but the show was a topic for another night after we had everything else together. If we have everyone, or almost everyone, ready to work and rehearse when I talk to Buster, everything will run smoother.

I put all of the groceries in the fridge when I got back to my apartment. I'll make the salad closer to when he's supposed to arrive. After I finished putting everything away, I put in The Princess Bride. Might as well enjoy the wait.

 **Layla's POV**

After I got back to my apartment, I talked to Ash and sent a text to Meena about the possibility of another chance at doing a show. Ash seemed pretty positive about it and offered to call her brother and see if his band would be up for it as well. I called Mrs. Crawley, who promised to find a way to contact Rosita, Mike, and Gunther. I also texted Miles as a heads up about the show. I went up to Johnny and Miles' apartment to talk to Johnny about the show, not really seeing a point in him coming down. With Ash working on her music in the living room and Miles' being at work, it would be easier for both of us if I came up. I texted Johnny to let him know and then headed up.

"So I've got Spaceballs, Animals in Tights, and curry." I told Johnny after he let me into the apartment, "You mentioned you haven't seen any Mel Brooks films last night, so I thought these might be good to start off with. Well that and these are the ones I have the easiest access to."

"Why?"

"These are the only ones I have currently have on DVD."

"Far enough." He nodded, taking the food.

"So which one do you want to watch first?" I asked, "The Robin Hood spoof with an actual English fox or the Star Wars spoof?"

"Why does it matter if the fox is English?"

"Because he takes a moment to point it out."

"You're joking." He replied in amused disbelief, "How does he do that?"

"Because unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent." I quoted in an absolutely terrible mix of an English and Welsh accent that was partially from listening to Johnny and years of watching Harry Potter and BBC shows like Sherlock, The Musketeers, and Merlin.

Johnny laughed, "Is that what I'm supposed to sound like?"

"No, it's a very poor impression of Cary Elwes." I smiled.

"The dude from Princess Bride?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, we're watching that first." Johnny decided, "I'll take care of the food, you set up the movie."

"Got it."

I went over to the TV and put in the movie.

 **Buster's POV**

I looked down at my suit and then back at the mirror in the bathroom, making sure it looked alright since it had been a while since I had it on. Was this too dressy for dinner? Although, it's not like I really owned much else. Although, it's Heather, she's never batted an eye at what I've worn before. I doubt she'd be in business attire like she usually is. Maybe if I didn't wear the blazer?

I took off the blazer to see the difference, which was better for dinner than the full on suit. It was just the white button up, bow tie, and blue pants and belt. Slightly more casual.

Was the bow tie too much? I don't think so, or at least I hope not. Maybe if I rolled up the sleeves of the shirt?

I rolled up my sleeves to just above my elbows and straightened the creases, so that it wouldn't look messy. This was a look could live with, or at least go out in tonight.

"With how much you're looking in the mirror, someone would think you were going out on a date." Eddie remarked. I should have closed the door.

"In a sense, I am." I told him, turning around.

"What about Heather?" He asked confused. I guess she neglected to mention that to him. You'd think with how much those two talk she would have said something. Although, neither did I till now.

"I am going to see Heather." I told him, hopping from the bathroom counter, "She's making dinner."

"Heather's making dinner?" He replied amused, "She can't cook. If there was a way to set fire to the stove by making pasta, she'd find a way."

"Then I'll eat charred pasta." I replied nonchalantly, and then something dawned on me, how would he know that? I knew they had talked to each other and got really well, more so than people who didn't really know each other did. Unless they did know each other. It's entirely possible that they could have known each other before she and I met, but Eddie would have introduced her to me, unless he didn't know she was living in the city; but how would he have known her? Something's not adding up here. Also, why wouldn't either of them tell me that they knew each other? Unless one of them was hiding some- No, I don't want to go down that road.

"Is everything alright, Buster?" Eddie asked.

"How did you know that she can't cook?"

"I know her." Eddie shrugged.

"How?"

"We grew up together." Eddie answered, "Our parents were friends and we just happened to spend a lot of time together. She spent her summers out here."

"Wh-" I started to ask another question, but Eddie cut me off.

"Look, Heather's pretty private about her past and I don't know how much she's told you about it." Eddie told me, "She doesn't lie, but when she gets know people, she won't tell them everything. I can't tell you because I was asked not to, she wants to tell you when she's ready and I respect that. Let her come to you about this, it's nothing bad. It's just something she's not too comfortable telling others, it tends to change the way people look at her."

"Why would I look at her differently?" I asked without thinking, "I love her."

"What did you just say?"

"I think I just said I love her." I replied unsure.

"Do you?"

I smiled faintly to myself, "Yeah I do."

"And you don't care that she hasn't told you everything about her?"

"No, because whatever she's left out doesn't change who she is." I told him, "It doesn't change her personality, or her mannerisms, or how happy I am when I'm around her. It doesn't change how good she is to others, or how beautiful her laugh is. It doesn't change how intelligent she is or how much I love to listen to her when she talks, especially when she slips into her southern drawl. It doesn't and couldn't change anything, she's still her."

"If you feel so strongly about her, why did you wait till yesterday to talk to her?" Eddie asked, "She calls every day and the only reason she started calling me is because you wouldn't answer."

"I lost my phone in the flood and I haven't been able to replace it." I responded, slightly peeved that he never said anything. I didn't even know that she called and talked to Eddie every once in a while a few days ago when I heard her over the speaker phone. She called every day and he never said anything. No wonder she was surprised. "You knew that. Has anyone else tried to call? What about Layla? Where is she?"

"She's working and living in apartment that Miles helped her get." Eddie answered, "I think she's rooming with one of the contestants from the show, or at least former contestant."

"Not cool." I told him, "I'm leaving early so I can apologize to Heather, you can call Layla and tell her why I haven't been returning any of her calls." I saw a look of fear flash across his face, it made me feel slightly proud of my girl to elicit that response from him. "Don't wait up." With that said, I left.

 **Heather's POV**

After the movie ended, I had about an hour before Buster was supposed to arrive. I pulled out my phone and went through the playlists I had on YouTube, not really feeling the urge to listen to any of them, so I went back to the home screen, and then I saw it: the soundtrack to the newest Disney movie. There wasn't a playlist yet, but practically the whole soundtrack was available. Needless to say, that's what I picked. I turned up the volume on my phone and then started to prepare the salad.

Halfway through the song 'Gaston', there was a knock at the door. I looked at the time, it was only five thirty. I poured the clean chopped lettuce into the salad bowl, closed out YouTube, and then got the door.

"You're early." I smiled at Buster as I let him in.

"After talking to Eddie, I thought you might deserve an explanation and an apology."

"For what?" I asked confused, closing the door.

"Not calling you back." He replied, "I lost my phone in the flood."

"How did you get my message?"

"About a week ago, I started forwarding all of my calls to Eddie's phone until I can get a new one." He explained, "Your message from yesterday was the only one I've gotten. I would have called weeks ago, if I had known."

"It's okay." I replied, "I sort of just guessed you needed your space."

"Space or not, I still would have answered." He said, taking my paws in his, "I still would have wanted talk to you. I would be happy to be with you in any way that I could."

I didn't know what to say, I don't think anyone has ever said anything like that to me. Talking to Buster was always like that though, he would say something that stun me to being speechless and without even having to think about it, a smile would form upon my face.

"Thank you, Buster." I told him when I eventually thought of something to say, and then went to kiss his cheek. At the last moment, Buster turned his head and what went from an innocent kiss on the cheek became an unintentional kiss on the lips. I pulled away shyly, "So, do you-" I started to ask, but my question was cut off by his lips being pressed back against mine. As I started to respond to the kiss, he pulled me closer to him and placed my arms around his neck, and then he snaked his around my waist. I pulled away reluctantly, thinking about the food that was still on the island. "We can do one of two things: I can put away the food and we can continue this, and eat later, or we can eat now and then see where the night goes." I suggested. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he was trying to decide between the two, so I added, "If you're worried about the food, it's a salad. I think I'd actually have to try to mess it up, especially since it's a Caesar. I was halfway done making it, when you arrived."

"Would you like help finishing it?" He offered.

"If you want." I agreed.

"I wouldn't feel right if I didn't."

"I'd be happy if you helped."

I took one of his paws in mine and we headed into the kitchen.

 **Layla's POV**

"Okay, that was awesome." Johnny said, after we finished Spaceballs. He had a pretty similar opinion on Animals in Tights. "Are all of them this cool?"

"Yeah."

"Anyway we can watch the others?"

"How do you feel about streaming movies?"

"It's about one of the only ways I've been able to see movies over the years."

"Got a laptop handy?"

He turned on his laptop and handed it to me. I pulled up Google and then searched for Young Frankenstein. With little hassle, I was able to pull up the film and get it to start loading

"Before we start the film, you want something to eat?"

"Sure."

"Do you like Ben & Jerry's?"

"It's the best ice cream ever."

"I was hoping you would say that." He smiled and pulled out two pints from the freezer. "Would you rather have Cherry Garcia or Half Baked?"

"Anyway we can split both?"

"I thought you might say that." Johnny replied, "Miles mentioned those were your favorites. He also mentioned you had a particular fondness for maraschino cherries and Jones cream soda."

"If you have those on you, I'd kiss you now." I laughed, not thinking much of it. I heard the fridge door open and shut, and within moments, he was next to me with Jones cream soda in hand and behind him was a jar of maraschino cherries on the counter next to the ice cream as well as a couple of bowls.

"I think someone owes someone else a kiss." He teased. I took the bottle of soda out of his hands and kissed his cheek. "Not the type I meant, but I'm happy to take it." He went back to the counter and put together the ice cream. Once he finished, he set the bowls down in front of where we were sitting, and then, he went back to get his bottle of soda.

"Do you have an HDMI chord?" I asked him as he sat down.

"I don't, but Miles has one connected to the TV." He answered, "It's behind the screen."

I went over to the TV and plugged the chord into his laptop as he switched the input on the TV, so we could see the screen of the laptop, and then I put the video in full screen and pressed play. I sat back down next to Johnny and picked up my bowl.

"So, what's this one about?"

"It's a spoof on Frankenstein." I told him, "The grandson of Dr. Frankenstein inherits everything, but he doesn't like him or his work because he thinks he's crazy. After a while of being in Transylvania, he ends up re-conducting his grandfather's experiment." I explained, trying to leave out as much as I could. I didn't want to give away the plot, even though I doubt it would be consider a spoiler since the film was released in 1974. It's passed its 'no spoiler' date.

 **Ash's POV**

"Hey Ash, thanks for the heads up." Miles told me as he walked through the apartment door, which I had left unlocked for him. "Johnny sent me one too." He shut the door and locked it, "What are you watching?"

"Buffy." I answered, "Layla's got the entire series on DVD."

"I'm not surprised, she loves that show." He replied, "I think she's got Angel too." He sat down next to me on the couch, "What episode are you watching?"

"Once More, with Feeling."

"What, did it just start?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"So what made you want to put it in?"

"She said I could borrow any movie or show in her collection." I answered, "I wasn't making much more progress on my song, so I was flipping through the cases of her insane collection-"

"Did you find the ones in the ottoman?

"What?" I asked confused, "What do you mean in the ottoman?"

He pulled the blanket off of the ottoman and then lifted the top, revealing deep rows of cases upon cases containing movies. These weren't individual cases either, they were huge black cases that mostly contained anywhere between a hundred to two hundred movies.

"Where did she get all of these?"

"One of her Uncle's pulled in a favor after she told him about what happened to the theatre." He shrugged, "The movies, among other things, showed up a week or two later."

"I thought both of them were in prison."

He smirked and answered, "They are."

"Then how do we know they weren't stolen?"

"He had the 'friend' provide receipts." Miles replied, "Her Uncle Joey's trying to go legit."

"Uncle Joey?" I asked skeptically, "You don't happen to mean Joseph 'Joey' DeMarco, the mob boss?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "Although, I think he's only in prison for tax evasion. It's the other uncle who's the scary one. She'll only talk to Joey, she won't see Dominic"

"Dominic 'Demon' DeMarco." I said in realization.

"That's the guy."

I don't think there was a soul around here who didn't know of Demon DeMarco. He was a notorious hit man, who had been locked up under a life sentence for hundreds of accounts of first degree murder, which he pleaded guilty to and not only named many of his victims which were beyond recognition, but who hired him as well because he just didn't care. Some said his nonchalant attitude was the reason that his brother turned him in. It was one of the many rumors surrounding that family.

"Don't worry, that guy's never getting out." Miles told me, "Joey might, but hard to say when. He's got at least another five to ten years in there."

"Have you met-"

"No." He answered quickly, "No plans to either."

"Is that why she lived with Buster?"

"I believe so." He replied, "I think they were in prison by the time they died."

"So do you have a similar back story?"

"No." He shook his head, "Moved out here a few years ago to go to college and ended up just staying here. The rest of my family is back in New England."

"Ever think of going back?"

"Hell no." He replied without hesitation, "Have you ever been there?"

"No…"

"Let's just say unless you absolutely love snow, like almost to the point of obsession, and you're willing to travel in it a good portion of the year, don't live there." Miles told me, "It's not worth it. And compared to here, there's not much to do there anyway."

"What about New York?"

"It's not part of New England." Miles answered, "New England is Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. I lived in Mass, but it doesn't take too long to see the rest of New England."

"Have you lived anywhere else?"

He nodded, "I've lived in Massachusetts, Montana, Texas, Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, and New Mexico."

"One of your parents in the military?"

"Dad's in the air force." He answered, "I had the choice of joining up or finding a way to put myself through college. The military wasn't the right choice for me, so I decided to choose the farthest college I could from the state that we were living and haven't looked back since."

"So is that how you met Becky?"

"I didn't meet her in college, if that's what you mean." He replied, "I met her when I started working for the Moon Theatre. There was this coffee shop that I used to frequent that was right next door. I would end up going into the coffee shop at least once or twice a day to get an almond latte and a baked good out of case. So, on one of my coffee runs, I see this girl behind the counter-"

"Becky?" I guessed.

"No, just a girl who worked there." He told me, "She offered me a part-time job since they had just fired someone. I needed the extra money because working for the theatre didn't pay much, so I agreed and we worked out a schedule that would fit with mine. The next week I started work in the mornings from 6am to 11am and there was a girl who would frequent the coffee shop."

"Was that Becky?"

"No, it was her friend." He answered, "So, I started flirting with her friend after I found out that she'd tip more if I did."

"Catch more flies with honey, I suppose."

"Right." I nodded, "Anyway, she liked the attention, so she started coming more often. After a while, she started to bring some friends with her."

 **Miles' POV**

Friends had been a loose term for what they were, but they were memorable. The girl who originally frequented the shop was Elizabeth, a sweet black bear, who knew my compliments were empty and harmless, but enjoyed them anyway. After weeks of talking to her, I had found out that she had been a psychology major with a minor in criminology. The reason she had started going to the shop was because it was close to the police station, where she had been interning at, and it was near the college. She had also mentioned that she started getting tired of Starbucks because it was starting to put a dent into her bank account because she would always order a couple of ventis.

The first friend Elizabeth started to bring with her to the shop was Katie, a squirrel with a big appetite. Whenever Elizabeth brought her, Katie would have at least one of everything in the glass case. She was probably one of the shop's best customers, but one of the worst tippers I had met. It didn't occur to her to do it because it wasn't an actual restaurant. Her conversation was worth the loss of tips though. She was a film studies major, who had dreams of being a film critic. She was interested in every type and genre of movie there was and had opinions on all of them. I would spend a good twenty minutes every day just talking. Hell, once in a while depending on the conversation, I buy her coffee for her.

The next friend that they brought was Ashleigh, a little blue bird, who immensely enjoyed being around others. She was an undecided major, but wanted to do something where she was always around people. She always had a huge smile and to this day had been one of the kindest souls I'd ever met. She only came about once a week for about a year. She ended up moving away.

The last friend that they had brought with them was Alice, a vixen with brown fur and dazzling eyes that I could never match a color to. Every time I looked into them, it was like I was looking at the sea after a storm. They were usually a vibrant blue, but they had flecks of green and brown in them as well as a dark navy line that outlined the rims of her irises. They'd sometimes change color to a mossy green depending on her moods and what she was wearing. I would often find myself lost in those eyes of hers. And it wasn't just her eyes that was stunning, she had this personality that others would just all in love with and gravitate towards. She had just finished her English degree and was looking into doing her master's, but didn't know what to get it in or how she wanted to go about it.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Ash asked, mid explanation.

"With every fiber of my being." I admitted, "She was the first, last, and only time I'd ever fallen a vixen, let alone anyone else."

"What happened?"

"She was married." I sighed, "Very happily married to paranormal investigator named Zack."

"Like the guy from-"

"I don't know, I've never seen it." I answered, "I've only met the dude a handful of times too, so I wouldn't know. Anyway, he was away a lot. He had to travel a lot for work, so she was left to her own devices, not that she really minded. She had an independent soul about her."

"You really got to know her, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah." I replied, "I saw her all the time."

"How'd you find out she was married?"

"Well she had a ring, but I didn't really put two and two together because it was just a silver band with Celtic symbols. I kind of dismissed the ring because she wore one on each hand. She had a gold and amethyst ring on her right pointer finger and the silver Celtic band on her left ring finger."

"It was on her ring finger on her left hand."

"Yeah and I didn't care." I replied, "I truly didn't give a shit, she didn't say that she had a husband. She mentioned his name, but never what their relationship was. I guessed he was just a friend or someone she was around a lot. I never really gave much thought to her having a husband. I didn't see him, she didn't say that she had one, and we would talk about several other things that he hardly ever came up. When he did come up, it was like an 'Oh, I've done that with' type of remark. It was almost like she forgot that I had no clue who he was."

"So, she led you on?"

I shook my head. That was the farthest from the truth. "No, she had no clue that I had feelings for her at all. She was the type who was surprised when she was told someone had feelings for her. It's like she didn't really expect it."

"How did you find that out?"

"Elizabeth." I answered, "She was the one who sort of filled me in on Zack. She's the one who told me that there was something there between them, not to the extent of saying that they were married, but that he was basically her significant other in not so many words, which could mean anything. She also was the one who told me that he was a paranormal investigator, to which I scoffed at because I didn't think it was a real job and was basically a scam for foolish people who didn't know any better to believe."

"So, how did you find out she was married?" She repeated, "And how does this connect to Becky?"

"Okay, so while I was working at that specific coffee shop, we were having an open mic night." I told her, "We'd have one every other week and Alice, Katie, and Elizabeth would often participate in. Often they'd pick a song from a musical and belt the hell out of it. Each of them was different. Katie was always the more joyful and picked the fun songs, Elizabeth leaned more towards the serious numbers, and Alice would pick whichever she thought of first."

"Okay…" She replied confused, "Is there a point to this?"

"So, that specific night, Alice decides that she doesn't want to do just any musical number." I smiled and looked at the screen which had already gone on to the next episode of Buffy and it was half way through it, "She wants to do a song or two from Once More, with Feeling."

"She did a song from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

"She didn't just to a song, she did the entire episode." I replied, that smile still tacked on to my face, "After she did 'Going through the Motions', the crowd cheered. They loved the idea of doing a cover of the song and wanted more from the episode. So, Elizabeth and Katie took parts to sing. Elizabeth chose Tara and Katie chose Anya, and then some other people from the crowd picked other parts. We had all had a blast just listening to them go at it. Hell, I even got into it taking Spike's part."

"I thought you said you don't sing."

"Just because I don't doesn't mean I can't."

"So, whoever can get you to do it, must be something."

"And she was or is." I replied, "So, we were all getting into it and we had just started 'Walk through the Fire' and these two dudes quietly sneak in and sit in the back. One was a black bear and the other was a black fox."

"Which was Zack." She stated.

"It was." I nodded, "His flight was canceled due to a snow storm on the east coast, he'd have to take another one in the morning, and he came to see her sing at the open mic. He had known she came here a lot and knew she did sing, but he was never in town when she did."

"He'd be out on an investigation."

"Yeah." I responded, "Elizabeth and Katie pointed him out to me and that he was her husband when I saw him come in. Alice didn't because she was busy and didn't expect him there. She thought he was on a plane to wherever he was supposed to be. And she didn't until he stepped in during 'Give Me Something to Sing About'. He wasn't much of singer, but he was a good sport about it. He did Spike's last lyrics of the song, you know the 'You have to go on living' bit."

"But weren't you doing Spike's part?"  
"I didn't feel up to it." I admitted, "Especially after I saw the way he looked at her."

"What do you mean?"

"You could tell that guy loved her much more than I ever did." I told her, "It was quite humbling actually. I thought I loved her, but it was nothing compared to how much he did. My love and respect for her was a superficial speck compared to his. It was like comparing a small mound of dirt to mountain."

"So what happened after he sang?"

"She hugged him tightly." I told her, recalling the scene, "There was something about that specific trip that seemed to terrify her."

"Well he is a-" Ash started.

"It was more than that." I stopped her, "There was something about this specific trip, I don't know what it was, but it scared her. Wherever he was going, she didn't want him to go, but since that was his job, she didn't argue him on it, but it did shake her up. They stayed like that while everyone else started 'Where Do We Go from Here'. He held her close, kissed her head, and I guess reassured her. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but it seemed to comfort her. They went home shortly after that. She came in the next morning after she dropped him off at the airport and ordered her usual cup of tea and a pastry and sat down at her usual table with a book in her hands and starts to go over different parts of it with a highlighter, and then this girl in bright pink with this demanding, entitled air about her walks into the shop, orders a latte, and then sits down in front of Alice. She takes out the same book and Alice begins to tutor her."

"That was Becky."

I nodded, "That was Becky. She was struggling in her Victorian literature class and Alice offered to help her. So for a long time, they would be at the coffee shop together and Alice would tutor her. Alice and her husband ended up moving to Nevada, but Becky kept coming in. After a few weeks, I asked her out."

"Why?"

"I was bored and she seemed easy."

Her eyes widened, "What?"

"I was heartbroken and still kind of an asshole."

"So you used her for-"

"She used me for cash." I corrected, "That girl's the definition of a gold digger who just happens to look in all of the wrong places because she has a fondness for musicians."

"Which is why she went after Lance."

"I guess." I shrugged, "How'd you meet him?"

"Why?"

"I told you how I met Becky."

"No, you told me a long drawn out story about how you fell in love with a fox, who might or might not be married to a guy from Ghost Adventures, and how you by chance happened to meet Becky."

"Yeah." I nodded, "So how'd you meet Lance?"

"He sat next me in class." She answered simply.

"As simple as that?"

"Simple as that."

"How'd you start dating him?"

"I asked, 'Hey, you wanna see a movie?', he shrugged and said, 'Sure', and I said, 'Okay'." She responded, "We went to see a movie and dated for a year almost two."

"I dated Becky for three and was in love with Alice for two."

"I can't believe you were in love with someone who was married." Ash commented.

"I didn't know and I backed off as soon as I knew." I replied, "She never found out."

"And you've never loved anyone since?"

"No, one as ever struck me as much as she did." I answered, "Were you in love with Lance?"

"I don't know." She responded, "I thought so."

"You might have been." I shrugged.

"Why'd you live with Becky if you weren't in love with her?"

"I thought it might have been better than being alone."

"Was it?"

I scoffed, "Fuck no."

"Then why did you stay?"

"Because I didn't know until after I threw her and Lance out." I answered, "And it was my apartment and I had no concrete reason to break up with her."

"You should have just broken up with her, if you didn't feel anything for her."

"And she should have broken up with me instead of cheating on me with another dude." I pointed out, "I may have not felt anything for her, but I didn't date anyone else."

"Did you have feelings for anyone else?"

"While I was dating her?" I clarified, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I would have acted upon it. Maybe, I would have years ago, but not now. I wouldn't have even done that when I met her."

 **Ash's POV**

"But there was a time when you would have?" I asked him.

"Without a second thought." He answered without hesitation.

"What made you change?"

Her." He replied and then looked back at the TV. There was no question about who he meant, I knew he was talking about Alice. In some strange way, somehow she made him a better guy. I don't know what he was like before, but it was written all over his face. I decided to leave the topic alone and faced the TV to watch the rest of whichever episode we were on.

 **Heather's POV**

With Buster's help, not only were we able to finish the salad, but we (well mostly Buster) also were able to make this French onion pasta, which was fantastic. It was basically French onion soup, but pasta.

"I didn't know you could cook."

"I can't do much, but when I have the supplies that I need, I can usually put something together." He answered, "When you raise a kid, you have to pick up at least a few skills. The busier and more in debt the theatre got, the more we resorted to take out."

"Well, the food's very good." I complimented, "Much better than I ever do."

"Yeah, Eddie was saying that you didn't."

"I'm sure he said a lot of things about my cooking." I laughed lightly, shaking my head, "Most of which are true."

"Have you actually set fire to a stove while cooking pasta?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I almost blew up the stove. I had to get a new one."

"How do you do that?"

I shrugged, "I got distracted."

"From what?"

"I don't remember."

Buster stared at me like I had two heads, it was quite funny.

"I never learned to cook and my parents were never really cooks either." I told him, "I can't remember either of them ever cooking a meal."

"You guys always ate out?" He asked, "Doesn't that get a little pricy?"

Not as pricy as having a cook, a maid, and a house full of servants to almost the degree you would see in something like Downton Abbey, but sure we'll go with eating out. We did that a lot too.

"They never seemed to mind the cost."

"If I didn't know any better, I would say your family was incredibly wealthy."

"Well, I wouldn't say I was Richie Rich." I replied, taking a sip of my wine, "But I was a pretty spoiled kid."

"A lot of kids are spoiled growing up."

"Are they?" I smiled at his answer and then changed the subject, "Would you like dessert?"


	14. Author's Note: Please Read

Hi everyone,

As you see this is a deviation from the chapters and the chapters will resume regularly after this. Since I've gotten this question multiple times and I've actually answered it in the author's notes in previous chapters as well as stated it in the story, but I'm going to say what the characters are again here. Something tells me that no one reads the authors notes when I place them above the chapters, so hopefully you will read this one.

Layla is a gorilla.

Heather is a koala.

Miles is a porcupine.

I try to keep it subtle in the story for two reasons. One, I usually write human characters. Two, I don't think it matters what they are as long as the story makes sense.

I have a few other things, I might as well address while I have your I've stated previously, when this story ends, it will not have a sequel unless there's another movie for it and even then that depends on the film. I will wrap everything up at the end, so that it won't have any loose ends. I might as well also say that each of the OCs do have a specific person voicing them, which are Molly Ephraim (Layla), Kate Hudson (Heather), and Grant Gustin (Miles). It doesn't change much in the story, but I think it gives a better idea of the characters. And lastly, I don't know if you all have noticed the running theme with the chapter titles, but every single one of them is a song that fits the chapter in some way. Below is the chapter/song list:

Title: You Make My Dreams - Hall and Oates

1\. Just Keep Breathing - We the Kings

2\. Any Way You Want It - Journey

3\. Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Eli Young Band

4\. Counting Stars - One Republic

5\. Nothin' But a Good Time - Poison

6\. Steal Your Heart Away - Fleetwood Mac

7\. Hold On Loosely - .38 Special

8\. Pieces - Rob Thomas

9\. Love Song Requiem- Trading Yesterday

10\. Just What I Needed - The Cars

11\. Us - Regina Spektor

12\. Right Back Where We Started From - Cleopatra

13\. Walk through the Fire - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, with Feeling

Sorry for the lengthy authors note. The next chapter should be up soon.

Thank you to those who did read this.


	15. Chapter 14: The Night We Met

**AN: Hey everyone. I hope you are well, I'm fantastic. I saw Beauty and the Beast this weekend and loved it. I've also seen Power Rangers and 13 Reasons Why. Power Rangers was much better than I expected it to be and probably better than it should have honestly been. 13 Reasons Why is very good, but depressing. I learned the hard way it's not something to binge watch.** **Okay, on to the matter at hand and the reason everyone is here, the story. I know this is a short chapter for such a long wait. Couple of reasons for that, I've been pretty busy and that author's note really threw me off, I was unsure of where to go with chapter thirteen after that, but with some help from a couple of people, I managed to get back on track.**

 **I hope everyone was able to read that Author's Note and basically have all of their questions answered. If you didn't read it and have a question, please check out the author's note. If it doesn't answer the question, please feel free to either message me or post the question in the review. Please know though, if I cannot message you, the answer is posted in the author's notes that I write before every chapter.**

 **The song for this chapter title is The Night We Met by Lord Huron, which is a fantastic song. What I might do after the story is finished is post the entire list of all of the songs used in this story, so if anyone is interested in listening to them. They'll have the entire list.**

 **This chapter does focus on Miles and a little bit on Heather and Buster. We will be getting back to the movie very soon, hopefully in the next chapter.**

 **I hope everyone enjoy's the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Fourteen: The Night We Met**

We stayed up and talked for hours after that dinner. After a while, I didn't see the point in him going back to Eddie's, so I invited him to stay with me. At first, he hesitated when I first offered, realizing I only had one bedroom, but once seeing it was a genuine offer with nothing else expected in return he agreed. The physical intimacy wasn't as important as it was earlier. It was something that neither of us would turn down, but it was not the first thing on our minds either. There was something deeper to where we were now than how we had started the night. There was something about this night, this moment, I almost wanted to tell him everything. I still wasn't ready though, I still had my doubts and fears about how he would see me after I told him the truth. Part of me questioned if it was really a good idea to be laying here with him now. The rest of me felt almost as if I needed him there. I could completely fall in love, if I'd let myself. I probably already had, if I would just admit it to myself. So, there we laid side by side, talking about life, theatre, and what had really gotten us all the way to this point. Everything stemmed back to one event when it came to the both of us: The Moon Theatre and the night we met.

 **Layla's POV**

"Hey, where's Miles?" I asked Ash when I walked into our apartment later that night. He had been down here last I had heard, but there wasn't a sign of him.

"He left." Ash answered confused, "He said he was going to go out for a while, but that was hours ago. He never came back?"

I shook my head, "He wasn't there when I left." I looked down, trying to think of what would make him just leave, but nothing was really coming to mind. Well, there was one thing, but… When I saw what was on TV, it only confirmed the possibility of that. "What happened before he left?"

"We were talking about how we met each other's exes."

"He told you about Alice."

"Yeah, did something happen to her?" Ash asked, "He wasn't acting like himself after he told me about her. He answered my questions and inquired about how I met Lance, but it was almost like he wasn't the same guy after the conversation ended."

"Alice died." I answered solemnly, "She came back while her husband was away to visit some friends, to visit Miles, a year after she moved to Nevada. The night she arrived, she got into an accident. A drunk driver went through a red light and caused a head on collision, killed her on impact." I watched her expression hollow as the words sank in. "I'm going to go find him, he's not in the right state of mind to be out right now."

 **Heather's POV**

"I've always wanted to be show business, ever since I was a kid." Buster admitted, "My dad took me to shows whenever we had a little extra saved. After a while, it became something two of us would do together, it was how we bonded. As I got older, my love of theatre just grew, I wanted to be part of that world. It was all I could think about. After I graduated college, my dad bought the theatre. He saved everything he had, so I could live my dream." He sighed, "And I destroyed it."

"You didn't destroy it." I assured him, "It flooded because two thugs were after Mike, who was betting with money he didn't have."

"It's still gone." He replied sadly, "I have no way of getting it back either."

"What if I told you that weren't the case?" I asked him. I knew that I had originally planned on not talking to him about the show, but he needed to know about the possibility of the theatre being bought.

He sat up a little, "What do you mean?"

"There are two very wealthy buyers interested in the theatre." I told him, "They're interested in buying it together and keeping you on as the Artistic Director."

"So, I would still be in charge of the theatre?"

"They want to be as hands off as possible." I replied, "So in a sense yes, except for the money aspect of it. Both feel that when it comes to that portion, they would like to handle it and possibly have a separate team for that."

"Who are the buyers?"

"One's Nana Noodleman, the other would like to remain anonymous."

"Why?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, lying, "Everyone has their reasons."

 **Layla's POV**

I finally found Miles at the top of Mount Hollywood looking down at the rest of the city from Dante's View. I sat down next to him, "If I knew you were going to be here, I would have changed and brought a fucking flashlight."

"This was her favorite spot in the city." He responded distantly. By the look on his face, it had registered with him that I was here and had said something to him, but not exactly what I said, which was fine. "She liked to look out at the city and see how smaller it looked from here. She thought it put things into perspective about how small everything really is."

I looked over at him to see his face, so I could gage if I should respond. What was it that he needed? I couldn't tell. Would it even register with him if I said anything? I don't know. I didn't know how to help him other than just to sit beside him and just be there while he broke down. If it hadn't been so dark, I probably would have been able to tell if he already started to. I could hear traces of his grief in his voice. I could make out the contours of his face, but not in too much detail. From what I could see, he looked haunted. Not knowing quite what to say, I remained silent. Maybe what he needed was just for someone to listen.

"I miss her." He took a deep breath, "I miss the way she talked. I miss her voice, her laugh, and her smile. I miss her eyes and the way they lit up when she would talk about the things she loved. I miss her kindness and how wonderful she was. And her honesty, I missed how she called me out on my bullshit in her own sarcastic way that just would lead into a fun conversation all on its own. I miss her jokes and how they only seemed to be good when she wasn't trying to be funny…" He looked down at his hands. "I miss her."

"I know you do."

"I never got to say goodbye to her, Layla." He looked at me for the first time since I had found him. "I wasn't working the morning she came to say goodbye the day she left. I talked to her through Skype, Facebook, and text afterward, but that isn't the same. I could have picked her up from the airport when she arrived, she didn't have to rent a car. Hell, I could have fucking drove to go out and get her. She was coming to see me and Elizabeth anyway. We're the only ones who fucking kept up with her. It's my fault she's gone!"

"No, it's not." I told him sternly, enunciating every syllable, "You can't blame yourself for that accident. The dude was drunk and ran through the red, there's nothing you could have done to stop it. The only thing you're doing is torturing yourself by thinking like that. Zack doesn't blame you and I doubt Alice would blame you either."

He shook his head, "She doesn't." He admitted. I looked at him oddly, but before I could ask, he added, "Zack told me, apparently she's having a hard time crossing over to wherever we go after we die. He sees her, hears her, from time to time."

"Have you ever-"

"I think I will when something reminds me of her." He replied, "I think I'll see her in the crowd, but it's just my mind playing tricks on me and I go back to the pain I had felt when she died all over again. Will I always feel like this?"

I shook my head, "No, it'll get better with time."

"It's been over a year…"

"You loved her, Miles." I replied, "It might have not have been like the way Zach did, but those feelings were still there and were very real. They'll probably always be there in a way because how much of who you are now is because of her. You are a better guy because you loved her. And I think in a way, she might have loved you too. Not in a romantic way, but in a plutonic way. I think though for your sake and possibly for hers too, you might have to find a way to help you move on."

"How?"

"I guess a good start would be finding a way to say goodbye."

We sat there in silence for a while before taking our phones to use as flashlights and heading down the trail. We walked the rest of the way home in silence as well. Now was not the time to tell him that Zack and his team happened to be in Los Angeles for week for an investigation and that there was a possibility of seeing him around the city. When I saw him in the bookstore, he looked just about as hollow and haunted as Miles did, if not more so. They both truly missed her. If he truly saw her, it was only glimpses here and there and very rarely. Hearing her would have been possibly a word or two, enough to recognize her voice. There was a yearning, forlorn presence about him when he didn't think anyone was around him. Or at least, enough for him to keep his guard fully up. In all honesty, Miles was doing better in his progress than Zack was. Not that it's surprising, she was his wife and their daughter was a very easy reminder of her and the accident, seeing as they both were in the car when she died. Miles doesn't know that though. One would probably ask how I even know that, I was the one who came across the accident and called it in. The baby was the only one conscious of the three. The other driver was critically injured and Alice was already gone when I came across the cars on my way back to the theatre. I never told Miles about that either, I never saw a way that it could help him. I didn't know he knew her until after he found out that she died.

 **Heather's POV**

I laid in the bed restless, I couldn't get past the guilt I felt from not telling him everything. Seeing him next to me sleeping peacefully and soundly only made it worse.

"I'll tell you soon." I assured him, "I promise."

I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, I felt him shift a little and pull me closer to him.

"Hea…ther…" He murmured in his sleep. I opened my eyes and looked up at him in bewilderment.

Out of curiosity to see if he'd respond, I asked, "Yes, Buster?"

"I…lo…ve…you…"

I smiled softly despite myself and replied, "I love you too." I kissed his cheek. Might as well admit the truth and give him a good dream, it's not like he'll remember any of this in the morning. "So much." I laid my head back down on his shoulder and tried to fall asleep.


	16. Chapter 15: Evermore

**AN: Hello Everyone! Here is the next chapter, which is as you can see is titled Evermore, which is named after Evermore from Beauty and the Beast. Those of you who have heard the song might see some nods, but anyway, that's the song for the chapter title.**

 **For those of you who are interested in having more of a story after the big show at the end of the film and them rebuilding the theatre, I think i may have found a way to do that. I'm still working out the kinks though, so I can't promise anything. That doesn't mean a sequel, it just means the possibility of a longer story. If you're curious about the idea or have ideas that'd you'd like to see in the story, please let me know.**

 **Next chapter we will definitely be diving back into the film.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Evermore**

Buster left late the next morning, we had breakfast and then he headed out. By the time he left, he did agree to consider still going on with the show. It wasn't a committed answer, but it was definitely a step in the right direction to getting the theatre back. Hopefully, I won't be the only one to try to convince him. If I'm lucky, some of the contestants will try talking to him. We won't be able to rebuild if we don't get some sort of proof of at least a decent show.

I heard my cell ring pulling me out of my thoughts, I answered it without looking at the caller ID, "Hello?"

"How'd dinner go?" Eddie asked on the other line, "You didn't poison him, did you? He's still alive, right?"

"Of course, he's still alive!" I exclaimed, "Why would you even ask that?"

"I've tasted your cooking."

"Hey, at least I try." I responded, "When was the last time you tried to cook anything? It's actually really hard."

"I cook all of the time."

"Pouring milk and cereal into a bowl isn't cooking." I told him, "Nor is adding water to a premade mix and putting into the microwave."

"Fine, I don't cook-"

"Then you shouldn't judge." I replied quickly, "Was the only reason you called to harass me about my cooking?"

"No, it was to ask if you finally told him the truth."

"That's none of your concern."

"I'll take that as a no." He sighed, "You need to tell him."

"I know, Eddie." I replied, "I will soon, in my own way."

"What are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Buy and rebuild the theatre with Nana." I answered, "We're going to rent out the land for the show and if all goes well, we'll buy the land and rebuild the theatre."

"Nana agreed to that?"

"She agreed to support the theatre and be a named sponsor"

"While you be the anonymous donor and buyer." Eddie finished, "It's the children's summer camp thing all over again or even the hospital renovations. Nana gets the credit and you provide most of the funds. You've helped so many, wouldn't you like the credit just once?"

"Knowing that I've help someone means more to me than any recognition I could ever receive for it."

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do."

 **Layla's POV**

"Welcome to Allais Bookstore, how can-" I started my greeting spiel, and then I saw who was standing in front of me, "Rosita, hi."

"Layla, I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, I needed something to pay the bills after-"

"What happened with the theatre..." She finished, "I'm so sorry about what happened."

"Thanks." I looked down, not really knowing what else to say.

After a few moments, she asked awkwardly, "Do you know if they're still going to go on with the show?"

"Heather would like to." I answered, "I haven't talked to Buster yet, he lost his phone in the flood."

"Well, I'm sure a lot of us would still perform if given the chance."

"If I hear anything substantial, I promise to let you know."

So that the conversation would continue, she changed the subject, "So, what have you been up to?"

"I started working here, I got an apartment…" I replied, "Miles and I live in the same building, so I hang out with him quite a bit. Not quite as much now, but we do from time to time. Ash and I are roommates and Miles is roommates with Johnny, so usually I'm hanging out with Johnny and Miles is with Ash."

"Is it just hanging out with you and Johnny?" She teased, "I seem to remember you two being pretty close when you were at the theatre."

"No, it's not, but I'm not going to push anything with Johnny." I admitted, "I've seen first-hand what happens when you take a relationship too fast, I'm going to go slower this time."

"Who knows maybe one day you'll find that you and Miles are switching roommates."

I smiled softly, "Maybe."

 **Miles' POV**

I was awoken by a knock at the door. I had the day off and the apartment to myself, I thought it'd be best if I slept in. Not my best idea, it was almost as if my dreams were plagued by my thoughts of her.

"What do you want from me, Alice?" I sighed, "What was I supposed to do? What do you want me to do?"

Another knock came at the door, I groaned and rolled my eyes. I had better get that before whoever it is gets testy. I pushed myself off the bed and threw on a t-shirt and actual pair of shorts, then went to answer the door.

Before I could even register who it was, their arms were being thrown around my neck, enveloping me and pulling me into an embrace. It was soft, warm, and comforting. Something I hadn't really felt in a long time. It felt unfamiliar, but nice. I could stay like this for a while. Involuntary, I felt my arms wrap around her waist as I registered who was hugging me. My eyes widened as I connected the two thoughts, Ash was hugging me. That was a strange reality within itself, but even more confusing was the thought of liking it. I mean I liked her, who wouldn't? She's nice and fun to be around, but isn't there a difference between that and this? There's something off here, but it felt so good, better than it should. She smelt amazing too, I could smell her perfume as she rested her head on my shoulder. She smelled like cherry blossoms, it was very comforting and slightly stimulating.

"Layla told me about what happened to Alice." Ash told me, "I'm so sorry."

I rested my head on her shoulder and just listened to her. I felt my melancholy heart softening at her touching, comforting words that she told me over and over as we stayed in the embrace. She was what I needed to distance myself from my guilt, but I couldn't use her for that. She was too good, she deserved better than me.

Something scared me as my thoughts drifted in that brief moment, she was the type of girl I could see myself falling in love with if the circumstances were different… If I was different… I could see myself loving her. Not as a fling, not short-term, but for evermore.

Okay, I really need to stop listening to that song. It's starting to affect my thoughts. Fiction is not reality, no matter how much I can relate to the song. It's not real. None of these thoughts are real. She's a just a friend trying to comfort me and I really need to stop listening to that addicting song. Thinking anymore on this will just muddle everything more than it already is. I pulled away from the embrace swiftly and silently, trying to collect my thoughts.

 **Johnny's POV**

There was a small part of me that didn't know why I kept trying to visit my dad, he never would see me. I knew that going in I would sit there waiting for someone who was never going to come out. I sighed and got up, what was the point anymore?

"Sit down, kid." I heard a voice say, just as I was about to hang up the phone, "Just because your dad won't sit with you doesn't mean you don't have anyone else to visit with."

I turned back to the glass to find Benny, I looked at him in shock. Why would he wanna talk to me? I sat down, might as well see where this goes.

"So, you're in a singing competition?"

"I was." I answered.

"What happened?" He asked genuinely. With that one question, I told him everything, from the audition all the way up to now. I need to talk to someone, who wasn't involved in any of this. Someone, removed from the situation, who would listen. After I finished, he said, "You know a couple of our cellmates a niece around your age named Layla."

Layla didn't talk too much about her uncles. I knew they were both in prison, but she didn't go into too much detail when I would ask her questions or when she did talk about either of them.

"Ever hear of the DeMarco brothers, kid?" Benny gave me a smirk that caused a chill to run down my spine, "Cause if you're girl's the one I'm thinking of, her uncles' are Joey and Demon DeMarco. Your dad's rooming with Joey DeMarco. Demon's a few cells down from us."

"What are they like?" I asked, my morbid curiosity getting the better of me. I knew of the DeMarco brothers, they were stuff of nightmares. My dad was a saint compared to them, they made all of his crimes seem trivial.

"Joey's a very quiet man." Benny answered, "Very clever, always reading, never really know what he's thinking. Demon's a very literal, he doesn't understand metaphors or expressive language. He understands machines and gears though; he can take something apart and rebuild it not only quickly, but more efficiently. No one gives them shit, you'd be dead before you could finish. You don't cross a DeMarco, you'd never survive. You don't go through a DeMarco, **_they go through you._** "

"Layla isn't like them."

"I hope for you sake that's true."

"Goodbye Benny." I told him, "Thanks for the information."  
"Gonna talk to your girlfriend?"

"I don't know what I'm gonna do." I admitted honestly, not bothering to correct him. I didn't know how to broach the subject, it made sense why she didn't really talk about them, why she was vague when she did. She was afraid of the reaction. Even though she knew about my father's discretions, she was still afraid of my reaction. Something clicked in me then, it didn't matter. It didn't change her or my thoughts on her. I still loved everything about her. I loved her. I smiled to myself in realization. "Actually, I know exactly what I'm going to. Thanks, Benny. Take care of yourself." I left. If I made my way to the bookstore now, I would be able to get there when she got off. Would I tell her now? No, but I hope to do the next best thing.

 **Heather's POV**

After I got off the phone with Eddie, I called a friend of mine, who owed me a few favors. This one favor would be payback for all of the favors he owed me. He would act as my liaison and buyer and negotiate the deal with SFJ Bank to buy the theatre. He was on orders to outbid any other buyers if it went to auction. I wanted the theatre and he was going to secure it. Of course, he had to fly out to do so, but seeing as I was paying for his flight and hotel, I don't see how there'd be an issue. All he has to do is get himself out here.

"Is there any possibility of a job out there for me out there?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at his question, damn raccoon, he was always looking for something more than what he had.

"Sean, you get yourself out here and don't get into any trouble and I'll make sure of it." I promised.

"Done." He agreed, "See you soon, Petals."

"What have I told you about that nickname?" I retorted, he's known I've hated that nickname since we were children.

"When have I ever listened?" He answered my question with one of his own in return.

I sighed and shook my head, "I'll see you soon, Rocket."

"I'll have the deed to the theatre in hand when you do."

"There's one more thing before I let you go." I told him.

"What?"

"No one here knows I'm rich."

With that, he started to laugh his head off loudly in almost a fake manner.

"That's a fake laugh." I told him my suspicions.

"It's real." He replied, still laughing, "This is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You're one of the wealthiest animals in the world and these idiots have no clue who you are?" He started to laugh hysterically again, thoroughly enjoying the idea of the situation.

"Goodbye, Sean." I told him, hanging up. I doubt he could hear me over how hard he was laughing. I could trust him though, he wouldn't say anything, at least about that. He will have a lot to say when it comes to Buster. He'd have a field day and Buster's probably not going to enjoy hearing what he has to say. They'll keep each other on their toes though and that might be interesting to watch. If all goes well and all the contestants come back, Sean'll be able to keep Mike and his attitude in line as well as any unsavory characters out of the theatre out as well. He may not look like he'd be able to take on a bear, but you'd be surprised. He may be small, well technically he was a few inches taller than me without counting his ears, but he was a tough relentless dude and was someone who could come in handy after the theatre was rebuilt.

 **Miles' POV**

Ash left after I pulled away from the embrace, it didn't really help matters that I kind of shut the door in her face. I couldn't, I couldn't face her with everything going through my mind. I couldn't get myself too attached either. I sighed, it was too late for that given what just happened. I closed my eyes, but there they were. Both Ash and Alice, even with my eyes closed, I could clearly see them both in front of me. Even with my eyes closed, I couldn't escape them. I couldn't shake away the pain, I felt no matter what I did; and now, it seems to have just doubled. I went over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Guinness from the fridge. Maybe with a few of these, I could possibly forget for a little while.

 **Johnny's POV**

I was able to get to the bookstore as her shift ended, managing to walk by the store as she was walking out.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She greeted me with a smile.

I shrugged, "I came to pick up some food."

"I thought you were going to visit your dad."

"I did."

"How was he?"

"He didn't want to see me." I replied, but before she could say anything else, I added, "Benny did though."

"Which one's Benny again?"  
"He's one of my dad's friends." I answered, "Usually, he was the one who drove."

She nodded in understanding.

"Your uncle and my dad share a cell." I told her, not really knowing how to go on to that subject. She seemed to stiffen at my words, her overall disposition turned into one of discomfort.

"Which one?" She asked hesitantly.

"Joey." I answered. I saw her relax, so I continued, "I understand why you didn't tell me that your uncles were the DeMarco brothers. They don't change how I see you, it never will. I don't think there could be anything that would change the way I feel about you. I know you want to move slowly, which is fine, I don't want to rush this either. I do want to know what this is though, make sure we're on the same page. We haven't really established what this is other than that there's something going on between the two of us that's more than friendship. How much more though, I can't really tell. I know how I feel about you. I've always felt something for you since we met and it's only gotten stronger as I've gotten to know you. I know you feel something for me, but I can't tell to what extent. I spend a lot of time guessing when it comes to you, which I'm fine with for now, but I don't want to spend forever guessing."

"Johnny, what are you saying?"

"I'm falling in love with you." I told her plainly, "I'd like you to be my girlfriend and we figure out where we go from there. I don't care if it means waiting for answer, I'd gladly wait for you as long as I had to, Layla. Just promise you'll think about it."

"Okay." She nodded in agreement.

"I'll see you around." I told her, before heading down the street to make my way to a Thai restaurant that wasn't too far from here.

"Johnny!" She called after me, I quickly turned around to hear what she had to say, "I promise I won't keep you waiting for too long."

I nodded, that was all I could ask for. Truth be told though, I'd wait for evermore if it meant I could be with her. I'd do anything to be with her.


	17. Chapter 16: The Show Must Go On

**AN: Hello everyone, we're back in movie verse. I tried to include as many scenes that I could in a way that made sense. The title is Queen's version of the song, not Moulin Rouge's, but either fits.**

 **The next chapter will be the live show.**

 **Hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Sixteen: The Show Must Go On**

"Hey, we're gonna go visit, Mr. Moon." I told Miles as he headed into the kitchen, "You wanna come?"

"Who's 'we' and why?" He asked confused.

"Me and Ash and some of the others are going." I answered, "There was an article that came out about the destruction of the theatre and him that wasn't too kind, so we thought we'd go and talk to him."

"I'm good here." He replied nonchalantly, "I have to work in a few hours."

I shouldn't have been surprised by his answer. In the past few days, he hadn't left the apartment apart from work. The only one who could convince him to go anywhere was Layla, but her method was one of, and I quote, _'if you don't get your dramatic ass up, I will drag you out this door and make you get up'_. Their friendship was odd to say the least. I wasn't going to ask her to convince him, it was his choice not to go and it was better if I could give Layla her space right now.

"Alright, I'll see ya later." I left the apartment. Ash met me in the lobby of our apartment building.

"You couldn't get Miles to come?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

I shook my head, "Layla working?"

"Early morning shift at IHOP." She replied, "I don't envy her."

"Neither do I." I agreed. She couldn't stand that job and the morning shift was the worst as far as she was concerned. She was hoping the show to go well, so that there was higher chance the theatre would be rebuilt, and she could quit the job at the restaurant.

Ash and I headed to meet the others, so that Mrs. Crawly could take us to meet with Mr. Moon. We found out upon arriving that he was staying at a friend's house and was lounging about the pool house in a nightshirt. You'd think he'd have more to do with his life, especially with everything else going on.

"Hey Mr. Moon." Rosita greeted him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Guys, look I'm sorry about what happened." Mr. Moon apologized, "And the prize money…"

"It's okay." Rosita tried to tell him.

"No." He responded, "None of this is okay."

"At least we're all in one piece." Ash pointed out.

Rosita nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and you know what, I'm sure we can find another place to put the show on, right?"

We all agreed to her suggestion. All of us would have been okay with doing the show without the prize money. The only one would possibly wouldn't would have been Mike, but no one had even seen him since the flood.

"The show?" He responded, "Guys, I'm done."

"Are you serious?" I asked him incredulously. I was counting on this show, on him, the show had to go on. I've lost everything to do this. And what about Layla and Miles? They needed this show as much as we did. He couldn't just be done.

"What do you mean you're done?" Ash asked him disbelievingly, most likely seeing many of the same implications that this had as I was. "C'mon!"

"Didn't you see this?" Mr. Moon replied, showing us the newspaper with the exposé on him, "Look, it says I'm a danger to society…a deluded washed up charlatan who never had a hit in his career."

"Oh c'mon, you don't believe all that." Rosita tried to say, but Mr. Moon affirmed it without hesitation.

"Yeah, I do…" He started to close the door, but I caught it before he could finish closing it.

"Listen, you're not the only one who lost something here, we all did." I told him, reopening the door, "I mean I lost any chance of ever speaking to my dad again over this show."

"Sorry…" He apologized again as he closed the door.

After trying for a few minutes to get him to open the door again, we all left, running into Meena as we headed out. Maybe she'd have better luck than we did.

"I'll let Layla know about the show." Ash told me, "Could you let Miles know?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"How's he doing by the way?"

"I've seen him better, but he's okay, I guess." I replied as we made our way back to our apartment building, "Any idea what's up with him?"

"Sort of, but I can't really explain it."

"The only one who seems to be able to get him about of the apartment is Layla."

"Their relationship is weird." Ash replied, "They're close friends who half the time pretend like they're not. If they need something, they go to each other. They go out and do stuff and whatever."

I shrugged, "They've known each other longer."

"You're her boyfriend, doesn't that make you jealous that they're together so much?"

"Even if Layla and I were dating, their relationship wouldn't make me jealous." I answered, "Their relationship seems like one that's more like a sibling relationship. They're friends. They love each other because they've been together for so long. It's completely plutonic and nothing to be jealous of, if I were in a romantic relationship with her."

"If you were?" Ash asked, "I thought you guys were dating."

"I want to." I replied, "She hasn't decided what she wants yet."

"She's crazy about you." Ash looked at me as if I had two heads, "You should know that by now-"

"I know she has feelings for me, but it's unclear of the extent." I told her, not really sure how she was aware of what was going on, "She has to come to that conclusion on her own."

"Have you tried telling her how you feel?" She asked, I looked at her blankly. She rolled her eyes as we entered our apartment building, "C'mon, Johnny, any idiot could see that there's something going on between you two. Even a blind animal could see that you love Layla and that she's just as much in love with you as you are with her. All of us have always known that you two love each other. Even if Layla's the last to know, we can all see it." She continued as we headed to the elevator, "You know what they say, 'love may be blind, but everyone else isn't'."

"As much as I hope you're right, she has to come to that conclusion on her own." I reiterated.

"She loves you, Johnny." She restated, "Just don't give up hope yet."

 **Layla's POV**

I hate morning shifts. They are literally the worst work shifts to have on the weekend. Oh, if I had the money, I'd quit and just work at the bookstore. At least I could read while I was on duty there.

"Morning Heather." I greeted her as I passed her and her friend, "How are you?"

"Good." She nodded, "You just get off of work?"

"Yeah, I have enough time eat and change before my shift at the bookstore." I responded, "Who's you're friend?"

"This is Sean." She introduced her raccoon friend, "Sean, this is Layla."

"Hey." He greeted with a nod.

"Nice to meet you." I responded, and then looked back at Heather, "Buster know about him?"

"Who's Buster, Petals?" Sean asked curiously with a teasing smile.

"Petals?" I asked, suppressing a laugh at the nickname.

"It's an old nickname, which he hasn't seemed to outgrow." She told me, and then looked at Sean, "Shut up."

"You're not going to tell me who Buster is, Petals?" He kept teasing.

"No, now shut it." She replied sternly.

"C'mon Petals." He urged. I smiled at his antics and how he seemed to get under her fur, Buster wouldn't, but I enjoyed it.

"You're incorrigible, Rocket." She told him.

"And yet we've been friends for over twenty years."

"Wow." I commented in awe, "How'd you guys meet?"

"We went to the same school." Sean answered, and then asked me, "Would you mind telling me who Buster is? Since Petals over here won't and you so graciously brought him up."

"Well, I doubt it matters what his relationship to me is, so I'll skip over that." I started, "Buster owned The Moon Theatre, they worked together before it was destroyed. Heather would have to tell you if anything happened after, she'd know better than I would."

"Thanks for that, Layla." Heather sighed, obviously not wanting to explain to Sean.

"You're welcome." I replied, "I'll see you guys around."

In the distance I could hear the two of them squabbling. Sean in a teasing manner, whereas Heather was in more of a teasing manner. If Sean was actually going to stick around, it'd make things interesting to say the least. It would ruffle Buster's fur a bit temporarily, which would be fun to see.

"Petals…" I snorted, and then realization hit me. Did she call him Rocket? Like Rocket Raccoon, Rocket? If so, she just got cooler.

 **Heather's POV**

"I flew out here to finagle a deal with some stuffy, bitchy llama because your boyfriend lost his theatre?" Sean asked pointedly.

"Boyfriend sounds a little juvenile, don't you think?"

"Well, I didn't want to call him a fu-"

"Language." I told him before he could finish what he was about to call Buster, "Either way, it doesn't matter what exactly he is in my life as far as you're concerned, especially since we haven't actually established anything yet."

"He doesn't know about you, does he?"

"No, and you're not going to tell him either." I retorted, "I'm saving your ass by letting you stay out here after I get the theatre, if I wanted, I could let you go back to Mona. I'm sure she misses you."

He gave me a look of true terror, which confirmed I had accomplished my goal, and told me, "He won't hear anything for me as long as that crazy bitch hears nothing from you."

"Glad we're in agreement." I replied, and then I heard something. Someone singing. "Do you hear that?"

He shrugged, "Probably just a street performer."

"I don't think so." I responded. "C'mon."

I ran off to find out where the voice was coming from with Sean chasing behind me. The voice led me to the top of wreckage of The Moon Theatre to find Meena singing her heart out to Hallelujah. We weren't the only ones to find her either, Buster was also there, staring at her in just as much awe as I was.

When she saw the three of us, she immediately stopped.

"I, uh…" Buster started, and then stopped, "Do you think you could sing like that in front of an actual audience?"

"I don't know, but I wanna try." She replied honestly.

"Good." Buster smiled, "Cause I wanna see it."

"I think a lot of us would." I told Meena in agreement, "You're very talented."

"Thanks…" Meena replied shyly, "I've gotta go home, but I'll talk to you guys soon."

"Bye Meena." Buster and I told her, and then she left.

Without missing a beat, I asked Buster after she was out of earshot, "Why are you in a speedo?"

"It's a long story." He replied embarrassed, rubbing his neck, and then Sean caught his attention, "Who's this?"

"Buster, this is my friend, Sean." I introduced them, "Sean, this is Buster."

Sean smirked, and looked between the two of us, "Okay, I get it now." He looked back at me, "I'm gonna go back to my hotel, turn in early, I've got a long day tomorrow."

"Sean-" I started, but he kept going.

"You should go have fun, preferably with him." He insisted with a teasing smile.

"Just go before I throw something at you, you moron." I replied exasperatedly.

"Have a good night." He headed down the hill, and then hailed a cab.

"So, how do you know Sean?" Buster asked after a few moments.

"It's a long story, but what it boils down to is that he's a childhood friend."

"So there's never been anything between you two?"

"No." I shook my head, "Not my type, I seem to have this thing for blue eyed koalas who wear a lot of suits and love theatre."

He smiled softly, "You know, that's a pretty limiting field."

"Yeah, there's only one like him and I'm sure he's wishing he was back in his suit right now."

"He is." He nodded.

"My apartment isn't too far off, you could come home with me." I offered, "I could call Eddie and he could drop off some of your clothes. Maybe order some takeout, open a bottle of wine…"

"I'd like that." Buster replied, "We should also probably let all of the performers know that we're doing the show too."

"You shower and change, I'll take care of the food and getting everything and everyone together for the show."

"You think it'll be that easy?" Buster asked as we walked down from the wreckage.

"Oh yeah." I nodded, "Once I tell Layla, she'd be able to tell Johnny, Ash, and Miles. She also is in contact with Rosita, who still talks to Gunther. The only others I would have to call are Mrs. Crawly and Mike. Meena already knows and if she had any questions Layla has her number."

"What about the theatre space?"

"I'll negotiate renting out the space and make sure we have it for the night, so that all we'll have to worry about is having a stage to perform on."

"You really do think of everything, don't you?"

"I try."

 **Layla's POV**

After I got off the phone with Heather as I headed out of the bookstore on my way home, I texted Ash, so that she could let Johnny, who was spending the afternoon in his father's garage, and Miles, who should be working, know what was going on with the theatre and the show, and then I called Rosita, who was more than thrilled that the show was still going to go on.

The next day after Heather was able to secure the space, we started to get to work on renovating it for the show. Mrs. Crawley, Ash, and a group of her and her brother's friends painted the town red with flyers advertising the show tomorrow night. Rosita, Gunther, Johnny, Meena, Sean, and I started to work on building the stage area and entrance for the theatre based on the designs drawn by Rosita and Heather.

"Everything all hooked up?" Johnny asked me as he shifted the gears of his truck, "It's hard to tell from the mirror, if they're all set."

I shifted in my seat to look through the rearview mirror to see Meena backing away from the arch, she gave me a nod and a wave to signal that we were all set. I nodded and waved back to her, and then turned back to Johnny, "We're good."

He drove ahead, so that Sean and Miles could install the arch at the entrance of the theatre. When they finished installing the arch, they slid down the wires and unhooked them from the truck, before climbing back up to the top of the entranceway to unhook them from the arch. After they dropped both cables into the trunk, Johnny shifted the gears from park into drive and went to park in front of the theatre. We both hopped out of the truck and went to help build the stage with the others.

"Looks good." I commented after we finished.

"Yeah." Johnny nodded in agreement, "Everyone did a great job."

"They did."

"You gonna perform in the show?" Johnny asked after a few moments.

"I think so." I answered, "I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to sing though." I added, before changing the subject, "Did you decide which song you're going to sing?"

"Yeah, I'm going with my back up, it just seems to fit better."

"I knew Elton John would be great for you." I smiled, "How's the piano going?"

"Great, I'm having a much easier time with this song than I was with the John Legend song." He replied, "Are you going to use it for your performance? The piano, I mean, not the John Legend song."

"I think so." I answered, I wasn't sure what I was going to sing. I didn't even know what genre.

"You're not sure yet, are you?"

"Not at all."

"You'll figure it out." He reassured, and then said, "I'm gonna go pick up something to eat, do you want me to get you anything?"

"You don't have to-"

"I'm going anyway and you haven't really eaten." He pointed out, "I don't mind."

"You sure?"

"I offered."

"Thanks, Johnny." I replied, and then he kissed my cheek and left. I went over to the piano and started to play around with the keys after a while it started to sound like the melody of a song. As I continued to play, I started to lose myself in the song which seemed familiar and yet not at the same time.

 **Miles' POV**

"You hear that?" I asked Ash and Meena, we were a few of the only ones left, everyone else had gone home.

"Maybe Johnny is rehearsing." Ash shrugged.

"That's not his song." Meena commented.

"He's getting food anyways." I responded.

"Layla's at the piano." Sean told us, "Sounds like she's finally figured out something to sing. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have a good night." He left.

Ash and I looked at each other confused, neither of us knew she was still performing. I wasn't unless I had to, I didn't think she would either. She didn't seem overly thrilled when she was asked. We went to go see what she was playing since it was something none of us had actually heard. As we got closer to the stage, we could hear the lyrics that went with the song. I smiled softly, she always did put her heart into her words and in writing.

 _"_ _Though it's been awhile_

 _He still crosses my mind_

 _And even after all this time_

 _I've still come to find_

 _Those words repeating_

 _With every beat_

 _Of this heart of mine._

 _And it said,"_ She stopped when she saw all of us staring at her, "How long have you guys been there?"

"Long enough." I replied, "Whatever that was you need to sing that tomorrow night."

"No way." She replied, "I was just playing around, I-"

"If you sing that song, I'll sing in the show." I bargained, she needed to sing that song whatever it was and I was willing to preform if she did.

"You're shitting me." She called my bluff.

"I'll sing **_her_** song." I stated. She looked at me wide eyed, knowing exactly who her meant and which song that was.

"Miles, that song…" She started, knowing how I felt about it. Originally, I was planning to sing a song by We the Kings, but this song seemed right.

"I promised her a song." I told Layla, "It's about time I make good on it."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I owe it to her to at least do this." I answered.

"Do what?" Johnny asked as he walked over to us with a few boxes of pizza in his hands. Layla stood and took one of the boxes off of his hands.

"Layla and I are singing in the show." I told him the summed up version of everything that just happened, "She's got an original song and I'm singing a song by Lifehouse."

He nodded, "Cool."

"There enough there for the rest of us, big guy?" Ash asked him.

"I think so." He answered.


	18. Chapter 17: Hooked on a Feeling

**AN: Hello Everyone! So, here it is the big show. I've got some surprises for you all in this chapter. There's actually one scene in here that I've been debating on how I should write for a while and it ended up being written completely different than how I imagined. I do find it really funny that one reviewer managed to guess kind of how I would do it after I was almost done writing this chapter and had finished the scene. I guess great minds think alike.**

 **I will also say that just because the movie has one scene left, it does not mean that this story is over after I write that scene. I mean I guess I could end it, but then you guys wouldn't see the fun things that happen after they rebuild the theatre. It wouldn't make sense to end it now with things left unfinished, right?**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter. The title is named after the song Hooked n a Feeling by Blue Swede.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Hooked on a Feeling**

 **Layla's POV**

Everyone was all set to go the next night, even Mike showed up momentarily. He left as soon as he heard there was no prize money this go around.

"Think he's gonna come back?" Miles asked smirking.

"Mike pass up an opportunity to perform in front of an audience?" I responded, "He'll be back as soon as the hordes of people show up."

"You think there'll be that many?" He asked in disbelief, "Really?"

"I think we're going to attract some attention." I replied honestly. We both looked at the audience we currently had from behind the curtain. It was only Rosita's and Meena's family and a couple of animals, who we guessed were fans of Gunther's. Then, I spotted the reporter, "There's our way to get attention. The longer he stays, the more of animals we'll get."

"Hey guys, listen up." Buster called our attention, we all turned around to face him. "Look, I've gotta tell you, there's not much of an audience out there tonight, but you know what, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't, cause tonight is our night, and whatever happens, I just want you to know how proud I am to be a part of this with you."

"Good luck, Mr. Moon." Rosita told him as Eddie pulled the lever. Heather stopped it before it crashed into the ceiling.

"You okay, Buster?" She called up to him.

"Still alive." He called back and then ran across the ceiling of the stage and hopped onto the moon.

"You take care of the music, I've got the levers." Sean told Eddie as he pulled a stool over to the wall. He hopped on to it and switched positions with Eddie.

"You ready, big guy?" Rosita asked Gunther as they got everything together to go on first.

"Yeah." He replied as he stretched, "I'm like totally ready."

"Break a leg, you two." I told them as I handed Rosita her basket of laundry.

"Thanks." Rosita replied, and then looked to Gunther, "Let's do this!"

They went onstage and as the curtain opened, they happily got into their song, managing to perform a very fun cover of Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off'. The crowd cheered as they finished their song and took their bows. All of kids rushed up on stage to hug and tackle her.

"Norman!" She called for her husband to help, who just stared at her dumbstruck. After a few moments and all of their kids were off of her, he ran on stage and kissed her deeply.

"Piggy power!" Gunther exclaimed as Sean pulled the lever to close the curtain.

"Help!" Buster called as some of Rosita's kids started to tackle him. Heather gently started picking them up off of him one at a time.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Moon." Rosita apologized, chuckling softly.

"You all set to go, Johnny?" Eddie asked him.

He nodded, "Yeah, or at least as much as I'll ever be."

"I'll get the piano, so we can take it out." Eddie replied, "You're on in 10."

Johnny nodded again, I walked over to him, "You'll be great."

"Thanks." He smiled, "I'm kind of nervous."

"Just breathe." I told him, "You know the song. I've heard you sing it, you're amazing."

"What if I mess up-"

I pressed my lips to his before he could finish and pulled away, "You won't mess up, and even if you do, I'll be right here and still be very much in love with you."

"Did you just-" He started, but Eddie called for his help with the piano.

"Go help Eddie, we can talk about this later." I told him and kissed his cheek. He ran off to help Eddie get the piano on stage, so he could perform. And perform he did. He had the audience in the palm of his hand from the moment he started playing. Many of them dancing in their seats to the beat of Johnny's cover of Elton John's 'I'm Still Standing'. By the end of it, they were all singing along with him. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as he took his bow. His smile faded though after he walked backstage. He took the towel that was hanging on the wall and wiped his face.

"What's with the face?" Rosita asked, "They loved you."

He laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah, thanks, Rosita." He sighed and rubbed his neck. I sat down next to him.

I placed my hand on his, "He would have been proud of you, I know I am. You were incredible."

He shifted his hand, so that his fingers interlaced with mine, "I wish you were right." He replied sadly.

"Is there anything I could say or do that would make you feel better?"

"Could you just stay here with me for a while?"

I nodded and leaned into him as he slid his arm around my shoulder.

 **Heather's POV**

As Ash was just about to perform, the amp to her guitar was pulled by Judith, interrupting her performance. She walked on stage and told the audience, "You are all trespassing on private property and you will leave right now."

Buster tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't hear it.

"Heather…" Eddie urged.

"I think now's your time, Petals." Sean told me.

"This was not how I wanted to do this." I took a deep breath as Sean handed me the deed as promised from his jacket pocket. I went on stage, "Judith, it's not trespassing if you own the property." I stated, holding up the deed to the theatre and its surrounding land, earning a gasp from almost everyone on the property and a stunned and speechless look from Buster. I turned to Judith and told her pointedly, "I own this theatre, I had a buyer come in yesterday." I looked over to Sean, he hopped off his stool and came on stage, "I'm sure you remember my associate, Sean Gunn, Judith."

"He was the uncouth little vermin who couldn't take no for answer." She glared at him.

He nodded with a smirk, crossing his arms, quite pleased with himself, "That is true."

"I would have had, and almost did, him escorted from the bank, if it weren't for how much money he possessed to buy the theatre.

"That is also true." Sean affirmed.

"Get off my stage." I told Judith, she backed off flabbergasted. Sean followed after her to escort her either to a seat or off the premise. Buster backed off into the backstage area.

"Hello everyone!" I addressed the audience, "My names Heather Greyson, I'm the owner and proprietor of The Moon Theatre. I do apologize for the interruption and the technical difficulties, there should be no further interruptions. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the show." I looked over to Ash, "You ready to go?"

She smirked, "Hell yeah."

"It is my pleasure to reintroduce to you, Ash!" I made my way off the stage as she started her song.

"You bought my theatre…" Buster finally spoke up, "You're the anonymous buyer…"

I nodded, "It was the right thing to do."

"How could you-" He started, "Greyson, wait... Not like the-"

I nodded shamefully.

His eyes widened, "Wow…"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted you to know me and like me for me." I told him honestly, "I liked having a normal life for once and being with someone who saw me and not just my money."

 **Layla's POV**

"Layla, we've got something going on that I think you need to go check out." Miles said vaguely, coming up to me as Buster introduced Mike.

"Okay." I replied, and then told Johnny that I'd be back. I followed him outside to see a gorilla in an orange jumpsuit hiding in the alley. "I've got this, you go back inside. You're up after Mike."

He nodded and went inside.

"Uncle Joey?" I tried as I approached the gorilla, not really sure who he was from where he as standing. He turned around bewildered. I took in his visage and form, this must have been Johnny's dad. They looked so much alike, except for the eyes. You could definitely tell Johnny was his son. "I'm sorry, you reminded me of my uncle for a moment. I believe you and he share a room, if you are who I think." I told him and then brought the subject back to Johnny, "Would you like to see Johnny? I can get you in and out of here without being seen."

He nodded.

"Follow me." I told him and lead him further down the alley behind the theatre, "Climb up there and hop over the side. You'll land in the backstage or prop area, the audience won't be able to see you, but you'll be able to see him." I told him. He did as instructed and then I climbed up and sat on the ledge over the dressing room and watched the scene unfold.

After he landed, he threw a pebble and hit Johnny in the back of the head to catch is attention. Johnny turned, rubbing his head. When he saw his dad, he ran and hugged him. His dad hugged him back tightly and then pulled away, "I'm so proud of you." He pulled him back into a hug.

I heard the choppers above as the closer and whistled to get their attention. They looked up at me and I pointed up as the lights flashed over the theatre.

"Uh-oh." His dad said backing away, but the choppers left. "Well, I'd better get back. They'll be wondering what happened to me. You'll visit me though, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course, I will." Johnny affirmed.

"See ya, son." His dad told him and then looked up at me, "You can get me out of here, girl?"

"No problem." I assured, and then called down to Johnny, "Make sure they keep my spot open after Miles!"

"I will!" Johnny responded as his dad followed me out of the theatre.

"If you follow this road, it'll lead you out of this district without being caught." I told Johnny's dad.

"Thank you."

I nodded, "Could you tell my uncle something for me?"

"Which one, kid?"

"Joey." I answered.

"Sure."

"Could you tell him I miss him?"

He nodded, and then said, "Look after Johnny."

"I will." I nodded and then we both made our separate ways.

"Did I miss Miles' song?" I asked Johnny when I got back inside.

He shook his head, "Buster's still introducing him." He answered, and then said, "You helped my dad get in to see me."

"I did." I nodded, "He was already here to see you, it was the least I could do."

"That's why Miles came to get you."

"We thought it was someone else at first." I looked down.

"You're Uncle's proud of you, you know, so is Buster."

I nodded, "I know, do you think they would be? My parents, I mean?"

"They would, Layla, please don't doubt that"

That affirmation was not from Johnny however, it was from Buster.

"You ready to go on?" Buster asked, "You're up after Miles."

"I am." I nodded.

"Good." He replied, "And Layla?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." He told me as made his way back to his spot next to Heather. I leaned into Johnny, who kissed my head, as we listened to Miles start his song.

 **Miles' POV**

This was a bad idea, it's been years since I've even touched an acoustic guitar. This was for her though, this was for Alice.

"This is for a girl who meant a lot to me, she died about a year ago." I told the audience, "This was her favorite song. If you know the words, please sing along. She'd enjoy that."

I closed my eyes and started to strum the guitar. When I opened my eyes, in the mass see of animals, I could see Alice. My Alice, who I missed more and more with each passing day. As I continued to sing, it was just her and me. No one else mattered. I promised I would sing her favorite song for her one day, I just wish I had been able to do it while she was still alive.

As I started to finish the song, she slowly faded away and I could visualize my audience more clearly. They were singing along with the song, many used their phones as lights and held them in the air, waving them back and forth to the song.

 **Layla's POV**

When Miles finished his song, the audience were left in tears as the cheered. He took his bow and headed backstage, straight to Ash. He hugged her and said something to her quietly, she hugged him back.

It was now my turn to go on and I felt like my heart was going to stop. Why did I even agree to do an original song? I must have been crazy. My song was nowhere near on the same level as Ash's. I didn't even think it was that good to tell the truth.

"It's too late to back out now, isn't it?" I asked Johnny.

"A little." He answered, "You'll be fine. It's very brave of you to do your own song."

"Or insane."

"You can do this, I know you can." He assured, "And even if it goes poorly, I'll still be here."

"Layla, you ready?" Eddie asked me, "Buster's wrapping up your introduction now."

"As ready as I'll ever be." I responded, still unsure of even going on. It was too late to run though, people would notice if I left now.

After Buster finished my introduction, Johnny and I moved the piano back onto the stage. As the lights dimmed I started to play the song I had written. My song… I looked up at Johnny, who was looking back at me with a soft curious smile on his face. It was just mine, it was ours.

I took a deep breath and started to sing, _"There goes my second chance_

 _My saving grace_

 _Could have been the start of something,_

 _But we were just out of place._

 _It'd take a miracle_

 _To get you back somehow_

 _Would it be too late to go back now?_

 _He was a tough guy_

 _I was a quiet girl_

 _When our worlds collided,_

 _I got caught up in the whirl._

 _Tried to fight it,_

 _But was taken by surprise._

 _There was something about him_

 _There was kindness in his eyes._

 _And he said,_

 _'_ _You wanna get outta this town?_

 _Come back to the city with me?_

 _There's so much in you_

 _That you don't see._

 _We could make a go of it,_

 _You and me_

 _We could finally see_

 _What it means to be free'_

 _Lied and took my time to answer_

 _Didn't know what I'd lose_

 _He left without leaving a number_

 _Looking back, I would too._

 _Though it's been awhile_

 _He still crosses my mind_

 _And even after all this time_

 _I've still come to find_

 _Those words repeating_

 _With every beat_

 _Of this heart of mine._

 _And it said,_

 _'_ _You wanna get outta this town?_

 _Come back to the city with me?_

 _There's so much in you_

 _That you don't see._

 _We could make a go of it,_

 _You and me_

 _We could finally see_

 _What it means to be free'_

 _Looking back, I'll never know_

 _How I could be foolish enough_

 _To let you go._

 _What I'm supposed to do_

 _When everything brings me back_

 _To thinking about you?_

 _Even if there was some way_

 _For me to say everything,_

 _Would you still listen_

 _To what I had what I had to say?_

 _So here is my one shot in the dark,_

 _To say what I should have told you_

 _From the start._

 _I wouldn't care if we stayed here_

 _Or left to go to the city._

 _As long as I was with you_

 _That'd be enough for me._

 _I know it took me a while,_

 _But I finally see_

 _You're all I need_

 _To be free."_

 **Johnny's POV**

She wrote a song about us, our story. I could tell from the lyrics it was about the two of us. I wonder when she started writing it. Was it after the flood? Was it before? Was it after we first kissed? Either way it was still beautiful. I wasn't the only one who thought so either. She had the entire audience captivated with her song, with our song.

"Dude, why are you just standing there?" Miles asked as Layla stood from the piano to take her bow. I looked down at him slightly bewildered, "Go get her."

I looked back at Layla, who was still on stage taking her bow. As she made her way backstage after she finished, when she got close enough, I took her hands and pulled her close to me. Before she could say anything, I closed the gap between us.

 **Miles' POV**

"Ash, are your brother and his band ready?" Eddie asked Ash as he came over to the two of us, "I can't find any of them."

"Billie and Lani are probably still getting ready." Ash told him, "I'll get them."

"You better hurry, Buster's halfway through Rising Phoenixes' introduction." Eddie replied and then left to go back to his booth.

"Can you go get the guys?" She asked, "They should be outside."

I nodded, "Yeah." I left to go find the Jake, Zach, and Dylan. Was it weird that every time that I heard Ash's brother, Zach's name, I thought of Alice's husband, Zack? I just automatically connected the two.

"Great song." I heard someone say, "Alice would have been very happy that you sang that song for her.

"I almost sang a different song by them." I responded, knowing exactly who I was talking to, "I didn't know you were in town, Zack." I turned to look at the black fox, whose expression was almost indecipherable except for his eyes. I could see the sadness in his eyes and that her death still haunted him. It was also pretty easy to tell that he felt as guilty as I did.

"My team and I have a lockdown not too far from here." He told me, "I came a couple of days early, be in the city…"

"How's Chloe?"

"Good." He softly smiled at the mention of his daughter, "Both of us are pretty happy that this is my last investigation."

"You're not-"

He shook his head and answered before I could finish, "I'll miss too much of her life if I keep traveling like this. I missed my chance doing this while I still had Alice, I'm not going to make the same mistake with Chloe."

"What are you going to do instead?"

"Nothing." He answered, "I've made enough over the years to never work again unless I'm bored."

"You don't happen to be that dude from that-"

"I'm just a dude who happens to look exactly like and have the same name as the dude from Ghost Adventures." He replied, "And if I were, which would mean the show was ending seeing as its focus was leaving the show, I wouldn't want anyone to know that it was me at the moment."

"They wouldn't hear it from me." I told him, "If you were."

"If you're looking for a bear, a porcupine, and a wolf, they're behind the theatre."

"Thanks, dude." I replied and then made my way to the back of the theatre. The three were there just as Zack had said, "Unless you three wanna miss your spot, I'd head on stage now."

They all rushed past me to get to the back entrance of the stage, so that they could perform. I headed back to where I had been with Ash.

"I've never seen those three run so fast." She commented as I came over to her.

"Guess they didn't want miss their spot." I shrugged.

"Where'd you find them?"

"Behind the theatre." I answered, "I think they've been back there since after your song."

"Jake and Zach went back to get Dylan after your song." She replied, "I guess they lost track of time."

"They're doing well though." I commented on their performance. They were a talented group. No clue what they were singing, but I liked it. The audience were enjoying them and those who knew the song were rocking out to it. "What song is that?"

"Set the World on Fire by Black Veil Brides." She answered.

"Cool."

"You have no clue who they are, do you?"

"No at all." I replied, "But I like the song." I added before changing the subject, "Hey, do you-" I started, but stopped myself. It had been a foolish idea. "Nevermind."

"Okay."

I watched her go over to her brother and his friends after they took their bows and came backstage. She congratulated them and interacted with them happily, until her brother started teasing. I smiled and shook my head at the scene that was playing out in front of me, before going to watch Buster's introduction of Meena. I would have gone to talk to Layla, but I think she had been a little preoccupied with Johnny at the moment. Something told me Ash was sleeping on my couch tonight or I was sleeping on hers depending on whether Johnny or I got back to our apartment first.

"I see those two finally got together." Mrs. Crawly commented on Johnny and Layla, who were currently sitting on a bench in the corner, talking and stealing a kiss here and there.

"They did." I nodded.

"Did you ever decide on your feelings for the girl you deemed 'The Rock Goddess'?"

"It's too soon." I shook my head, "She's still in my head."

"Alice is always going to be a part of you." Mrs. Crawly responded, "You can't live your life in the past though. You're still living, you have to keep going. If not for your own sake, but for hers. She would want you to be happy and you seem to be when you are with her." Mrs. Crawly gestured to Ash, "You won't always have Layla at the moment you need her every time you need her to help you. Nor should you have to deny your own happiness out of misplaced guilt. Let yourself be happy, Miles. After everything you've been through, you deserve at least that much."

 **Layla's POV**

"Have you seen Meena?" Buster ran up to Johnny and I; she had missed her cue to go on.

"No, but we'll help you look for her." Johnny replied.

We ended up finding her in one of the dressing rooms, she had been hiding due to her stage fright.

"What's wrong?" Buster asked her, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, "I can't move, I'm terrified."

Buster asked for her hand, and then led her to the stage. He assured her that the fear would cease once she started to sing. She accidentally knocked over the mic nervously, causing it to fall on a guy in the front row. Eddie picked it up and adjusted it for her as she apologized to the poor guy. She looked back at the rest of us, who could really only give her looks of reassurance at this point.

"Sing." Buster told her.

She started out quiet and slow, but once she got into the song, she really started to put on a show. Enough of one that the back of our stage literally broke off because it couldn't handle her performance. When she had seen what had happened, she was so into her performance that, she just shrugged and continued on.

When she finished, all of us and the audience erupted in loud applause and cheers. The group of us performers all ran on stage and took our final bows.


	19. Chapter 18: Mess is Mine

**AN: Hello everyone. Shorter chapter, but it picks up right after the show. We're back off of movie-verse for a while. We're pretty much going to be done with movie-verse for the the the rest of the story other than they rebuild the theatre and have a grand reopening.**

 **This chapter is named after the song Mess is Mine by Vance Joy.**

 **I also will say, I do not own Shakespeare, but since it's public domain, I can quote from it as much as I like. The quote used in here is from Hamlet.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Mess is Mine**

 **Heather's POV**

"Nana came to the show." Buster commented when he saw Nana, who graciously waved to him. He waved back.

"I invited her." I told him, "If she and I were going to be business partners and co-owners of the theatre, she should at least see the talent we have. She wasn't going to agree to sign any paperwork until she saw a show from us, so that she knew what she was investing in."

"You've really planned for everything." He replied, "Haven't you?"

"I've tried." I answered, and then looked back at the group as they were talking to the audience members, "We're going to have to talk to them about working in the theatre and everything."

"Let's just let them have tonight." He responded, "We should all celebrate though."

"Well, I think Johnny and Layla have their own plans." I commented as I watched the two slip away from the crowd, "And Rosita and Meena are probably going to go home with their families."

"Mike left hours ago." Buster commented.

"Jake has already said that he and some of the members of Rising Phoenixes are going home after everyone leaves." I responded, "Only one staying I think is Zach, who's going out to dinner with Ash."

"I think that just leaves Miles and Gunther-"

"Who are already gone." Sean told us as he walked over, "Great show, I can already tell I ain't gonna be bored with you lot."

"What?" Buster asked confused.

"Sean's gonna be our new head of security when the theatre is rebuilt." I explained, "How do you two feel about community service and working with the prison?"

"Not good." Both of them stated at the same time.

"Is that even plausible?" Buster asked.

"Possibly depending on the crime." Sean told him and then asked me, "What are you planning?"

"I'm still working through it." I answered, "I have the connections and the specifics that I want to look into, just not everything."

"How much of a plan you have?" Sean asked.

"Like twelve percent."

"That isn't a plan." Sean stated.

"He's right." Buster agreed, "It's barely a concept. Who are you looking at to be involved in this?"

"Peter Maddox and Joseph DeMarco at first." I answered, "Then if they do well then we're look at bringing in others who are just as harmless."

"Joey DeMarco?" Sean asked, "The mobster? Have you lost it?"

"Why does Maddox sound so familiar?" Buster asked perplexed.

"Maybe because it's Johnny's last name." I responded, "Johnny's dad can be let out on bail and there's a possibility for Layla's Uncle Joey to have his sentence lessened if he does community service."

"What would they do?" Buster asked.

"Two huge guys like that?" I responded, "They can help Sean in security, as well with the sets and repairs."

"That kid's last name's Maddox?" Sean asked, "He doesn't look like a Maddox."

"His name's Jonathon Edward Maddox." I responded, "He goes by Johnny for short."

"Why do you know that?" Sean questioned, "Actually, do I want to know that?"

"All of the performers, as well as Buster and Mrs. Crawly, had a thorough background check when I started to consider just buying the theatre."

Both looked slightly put off by my answer. Sean groaned, "How many times have I told you about doing those for things like this?"

"I'm sorry, but that's a lot of money to lay out."

"That's invasion of privacy." Buster argued.

"I wasn't going to spend millions of dollars to buy and renovate the theatre without knowing everything I could about who and what I was investing in." I replied, "I did a simple routine background check that any employer would have conducted on a potential employee. To not do so before buying it would have been foolish."

"Did these happen before or after we became involved with one another?" Buster asked pointedly. Sean quickly retreated after hearing this start to become a lover's squabble.

"Yours was before." I told him, "The most of the others were after."

"How am I supposed to trust you if you can't trust me?" Buster asked after a few moments.

"I do trust you."

"Obviously not, if-"

"It cost a little over 3.5 million to just buy this property back." I stated, "It's going to cost another 2.6 to do the wreckage removal, basic construction, and interior. That's 6.1 million before even getting to everything else. The total reconstruction is going to cost almost 8 mil by the end of it. Then, there's the performers and personnel, who will need to be paid." I explained the financial aspect of the situation, "I am wealthy, but I'm not going to throw my money away. It has nothing to do with you or anyone else, trusting you had no factor in this decision. I'm taking the financial hit for this, I needed to know what I was getting into."

"You looked into all of the performers?"

I had looked into almost every single one:

Layla Allison Baxter

Miles Sebastian Gustin

Jonathon Edward Maddox

Ashleigh Paige Braddock

Meena Grace Arden

Gunther Markus Fischer

Rosita Elle Murphy

Michael Alexander Harrison

Due to the last minute addition of Rising Phoenixes, they were not added into my background check. I was also unsure how active they'd be in the theatre after the show or if they even would be, so my focus was on Layla, Miles, Johnny, Ash, Meena, Gunther, Rosita, and Mike.

"Most." I answered, "You might want to keep an eye on Mike. He's been banned from every casino on the west coast for card counting and cheating. He's also gotten in trouble here and there for con-artistry. Nothing major, I just wouldn't let him near money if he came back to work in the theatre. Everyone else was pretty clean for the most part."

"Mike was one of the reasons you hired Sean?" Buster guessed.

"No, three huge Russian bears storming in during a rehearsal and causing a flood was the reason." I corrected, "Which Mike happened to cause because he was fooling around with money he didn't have."

 **Layla's POV**

"Where are we going?" I asked Johnny as we made our way through the streets. At this point, I kind of had been wishing we had driven to the show instead of walking. It wasn't like I was worried about our safety, no one was going to bother us. It was still early enough that it was safe to walk around at night.

"We're almost there." He answered with half of a smile.

"Almost where?" I asked confused.

"Here." He said, stopping in front of an alley, "You may not remember this spot, especially since it looks a little different at night, but I'm grateful for this place every day."

"Oh really?" I asked, starting to connect the dots. I knew exactly where we were, or at least I did the better view I got of it. "Why's that?"

"Several months ago, a girl ran into me in this alley." He replied, "She was in a rush to get somewhere and I fell head over heels for her, at first literally, then as time progressed, I fell figuratively as well. If I hadn't been standing in this alley when she sprinted through, I don't know if I would gotten to know her as well as I did."

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again after that morning." I commented, "I was thoroughly surprised to see you in the auditions. If we hadn't have accidentally switched iPods, I don't know if I would have started a conversation with you unless Buster had me give you piano lessons."

"I would have." He stated, "I couldn't get you off my mind after you crashed into me, I would have talked to you once I found the right thing to say."

"What do you think you would you have said?"

"That's not quite fair given how well I know you."

"Is there anything you'd think you'd say now, knowing everything you do and after everything that's happened?"

 _"Doubt thou the stars are fire;"_ He quoted, _"Doubt that the sun doth move;_ " He continued as he interlaced his fingers it mine and turned me to face him, " _Doubt truth to be a liar;_ " He stepped closer to me and with his right hand he cupped my cheek, " _But never doubt I love._ " He kissed me softly.

 **Miles' POV**

"Thank you, keep the change." I told the florist, who was nice enough to keep the shop open for a few more minutes. I took a deep breath and headed out of the shop, I had needed to do this. I should have a long time ago. I looked down at the purple irises and made my way up the hill to the cemetery.

When I arrived, I set the flowers in front of her headstone and started to talk to her, "Hi Alice, I know I haven't visited and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, I should have come to see you before now, I couldn't bring myself to see you, to see you like this. I brought you irises, you always loved those. I hope they bring you a little more peace." I referenced the flowers, "I miss you and I think about you all the time. You left us too soon, Alice. We weren't ready to let you go yet. I have to let you go though, so I can move on. I'm starting to feel that part of me that died with you reawaken and I'd like to see where it leads me. I won't forget you. I'll always love you, as will everyone else, I just can't stay stuck like this anymore." I moved closer to her headstone, and placed my hand on its side, "I promise I'll visit you." I left.

When I got home, I went to bed and had the most restful sleep I've had in a long time.


	20. Chapter 19: Thrown Down

**AN: Hello Everyone, we are now officially completely out of movie verse from here on out. So, you all will have to trust me with the how the rest of this story is going to go. I definitely know I'm going to have more chapters after this one. How many? No clue, but it's not going to be soon. I end stories when I feel they have run their course and they are finished. This story feels like it's maybe half way done. Well that and I enjoy these characters too much to stop now. Still no plans for a sequel unless there's another film, but this story will be long.**

 **The song for this chapter title is Thrown Down by Fleetwood Mac.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Chapter Nineteen: Thrown Down**

 **Layla's POV**

Things changed for everyone after that weekend. The group of us were hired by the theatre with enough of a salary that we didn't need another job unless we wanted one, which everyone happily agreed to. Miles quit his job at the Starbucks. I quit the one I had at the IHOP, but kept the one at the bookstore. The discount on books was too good to pass up and I liked how my personal library was growing. I had enough to fill some of the shelves of my bedroom closet, which I had converted half of it into a miniature library. If Ash ever moved out, I'd probably turn her room into a library and skip having another roommate. Not that Ash wasn't great, she was. She was a fantastic roommate, very easy going, but Johnny is around enough, and with work, I wouldn't really have a need for a roommate if she ever moved out.

Speaking of Ash and Johnny, not too much changed when it came to them. Johnny and I officially agreed to date, but not really agreed to the terms of 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. We didn't really put a label on it other than we were dating and were in love with one another. I didn't mind the lack of a label. When you're in your teens and possibly early twenties, it's one thing to do that, kind of like really heavy public displays of affection, but when you're in your mid to late twenties, it's a complete other. I liked the very relaxed way we were going about things. We both knew we weren't going out with anyone else, nor was there an interest, but we also didn't spend every second with one another. We both had our space, separate interests, and things we did without each other. Ash, on the other hand, was hardly ever in the apartment. Not do to a dispute or problems between the two of us, but because she was doing stuff with Miles. They had a pretty good friendship. Every one of us who worked with the theatre had a pretty good relationship with one another, even Mike. Although, I will say his girlfriend, Sasha, was much nicer to be around that he was. He was better to be around when she was with him. Heather liked her so much that once she learned that Sasha had a degree in fashion design, she extended her an offer to work in the theatre in costume/wardrobe design, which Sasha accepted.

I think things changed the most for Heather, who didn't seem to have really anticipated everything that would happen after the show or at least not for her social life. She had everything all set for the theatre. Between her and Nana Noodleman, every need of the theatre and its' personnel was taken care of. They had their limitations, but they were very accommodating. What changed for Heather, unfortunately, was her relationship with Buster. They weren't quite as simpatico as they usually were at the moment. It had started with the background checks on all of us, which none of us really minded and the rest of us took it one step further and we shared a lot of the things that were said background checks and were also not confidential with each other. I actually thought some of the information was good to know, like Johnny's last name being Maddox. That was a good thing to know. Anyway after the disagreement of the background checks, it just seemed to build the more involved she became with the theatre. Buster was now the Theatrical Director, which meant he really was only in control of the show and everything else that happened in it, and Heather was now his boss and in charge of everything else. He wasn't expecting that and it got him slightly peeved about the shift in managerial status, which wasn't her fault. She was actually really good at her job and taking care of the theatre. It was really rather sad to watch them as the weeks progressed since the two did, and deep down still do, have feelings for one another. Here we all sat though, in the theatre auditorium, watching the two go back and forth about the direction of the theatre and the types of shows it would host and produce.

"We can't just keep cashing in on the same formula." Heather argued for what seemed like the millionth time, "We do the same type of show, the audience will get tired of it. It doesn't matter how good the cast or performers are."

"We change the songs it's a different show." He retorted, "Why fix something that isn't broken? This works, we don't need to change it."

Heather groaned, "We have a very talented group of artists, who can do more than just sing, they should be able to explore those talents. We have writers, Shakespeare enthusiasts, and so many others. They should be limited to just being musicians."

"It would cost extra money and time to purchase and obtain the rights to a play or musical." Buster pointed out.

"Not if you use stories that are currently in the public domain and rewrite them. Hell, you could even rewrite them into musicals if you wanted." I spoke up not being able to control the words that had come out. They came out before I could even fully think through them. Everyone's attention turned to me.

"The public domain!" Heather grinned, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"What do you mean use stories from the public domain?" Buster asked.

"Um, well you could start off with stories like Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol…" I started to list off, feeling very uncomfortable with the attention. I don't know what it was. When it came to a large mass of people, I was great. I was comfortable. However, put me in a room with a small group and I have to speak in front of them, I lose my almost nerve. "You could also look at Greek and Celtic mythology as well as legends from other countries. Eventually, you could get to the works of Shakespeare, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Verne, and Austen. There are hundreds of stories in the public domain, it might take a little extra work on our parts, but it could work out to our benefit."

"Could you give an example?" Heather asked curiously.

"Of what?" I asked blankly.

"Of how you would change a story." Heather replied.

"Which one?" I asked, still uneasy about being put on the spot.

"Um well you listed off Cinderella first." Heather answered, "How would you change Cinderella?"

I thought for a moment or two, how would I change Cinderella? Well, I would start off by addressing something I had a problem the first go around: the romance. Many who knew me knew very well, I did not believe in love at first sight. I'm sorry, but that doesn't exist. Attraction at first sight exists, but not love. "Cinderella didn't fall in love with the Prince, she falls in love with someone else." I told them without missing a beat after it came to mind.

"What?" Everyone, except for Heather and Johnny, asked in disbelief. Heather looked intrigued at the notion. Johnny smirked, knowing that I had a slight interest in changing stories and flipping them on their heads.

"What do you mean she doesn't fall in love with the prince?" Ash asked.

"Isn't that the end of the story?" Meena asked in confusion, "The prince takes her away and they get married?"

"Give her a change to explain." Heather told them, "What happens in Cinderella after 'Happily Ever After'?"

I took a deep breath and started to explain, "Everyone who has ever read Cinderella, knows one thing to be true: She never actually asked for the Prince. She only asked for a night off from her abusive family and the chores and for a dress to go to the ball in. Never once does she actually ask for the Prince. There is no actual romance between them that is more than immense attraction. He's a charming Prince, who would be attractive to any lady. Thing is he was raised to be charming, he was not raised to be sincere. 'Cinderella' was the first to run away from, which is frustrating, but also a great deal of fun for someone who has never had to work for anything in his life. He manages to find her again and bring her back to his castle, so that he can marry her. Before they can get married though, she must be trained and coronated. The more time she spends in the castle, the more she sees that the new life that she has received is not right for her. Nor is the Prince for that matter. They have no common interests and as far as she's concerned he's a bore and fop."

"What the hell is a fop?" Mike asked in confused.

"It's a guy who's concerned with his clothes and appearance in an affected, excessive, and obsessed way." Johnny answered amused, and then looked back at me, "Go on, Layla."

"Thanks." I smiled at him, and then continued, "So, anyway, on her free days, she slips out of the castle and goes into the village or goes to the cliffs to look out at the ocean and watch the ships sail in and out of the harbor. She had always been drawn to the water, she had no idea why, but it was where her heart belonged. One day, while in the village, she sees a gentleman all clad in black being arrested and taken from the harbor. The gentleman argued, saying that the only thing he had done was dock his ship, so that he could get supplies. The argument fell upon deaf ears though for he was a pirate. Seeing this as a way to life that she could possibly enjoy that was free from the Prince and the restrictions of royalty, later that evening she sneaks into the prison where the pirate is being held and makes him a proposition for them to save each other. He reluctantly agrees and she breaks him out…" I bit my lip, "That's all I've got."

"Now that's a story I'd be interested in seeing." Heather remarked, "Would it be a play or musical?"

I shrugged, "Either or, I guess."

"How long would it take you to write it and get it to Buster?"

"Wait, what?" I asked incredulously, "I'm not a writer. A few lyrics and a poem here and there, but that doesn't make me a writer by any means. How would I even begin to write a play?"

"I think if you got the story down on paper or typed it out, someone could convert it into a play." Sean answered, "I couldn't, but I'm sure someone here might be able to."

"Could you make it into musical?" Buster asked.

My eyes widened and answered quickly, "No!"

"I'm going to take that as a maybe." Buster replied.

"It's still a no." I replied, picking out my bag from the seat next to me.

"Where are you going?" Buster asked confused.

"Out!" I called back simply as I headed out the doors. I couldn't say I was going home because I wasn't. I didn't know just where I was headed yet.

 **Johnny's POV**

I wasn't surprised when Layla walked out of the theatre. I had expected it would when Heather asked her about writing it for the theatre. I could barely get her to share her stories with me, it would take a lot for her to share a story with everyone. Even when she did share a story, she'd have be me to act off of.

That's it!

I ran out to go and try to catch her. In the distance, I could hear Buster calling after me, but I ignored him.

"Layla!" I called when I was close enough for her to hear me, she stopped and turned around, "I've-"

She stopped me before I could say really anything, "Please don't ask me to try to write that play."

"If you would give me a chance to speak, I was going to propose the idea that we write the story together." I told her, "We could record some of the scenes on voice recorder as we're trying to figure them out. Ash could help with the songs if we have to make it into a musical, and the two of us could pick scenes were it would make sense for there to be song. You wouldn't have to do this alone."

"You'd help me write the whole play?"

I nodded, "Entire play." I assured.

"Okay, let's see what we can come up with and if I like it, we give it to Buster." She replied, "We write the book first though, songs aren't going to even be mentioned more than a pinpoint during the writing process."

"Agreed." I nodded again, "You wanna go get lunch?"

"Yeah." She agreed.

I slid my arm around her shoulders and we headed to my truck to go get something to eat.

 **Miles' POV**

After Layla and Johnny left, Buster and Heather eventually found something else to argue about, which we all tuned out.

"What is the point of this game?" Mike asked annoyed as we went back to the game of cards we had going, "There's no way you can bet money on it-"

"The point of the game is make everyone else look like an idiot." Sean answered, "The only profit you can make off it is personal enjoyment from schadenfreude."

"Schaden-" Mike started to pronounce it, "What? What does that even mean?"

"Happiness at the misfortune of others." I answered as I finished dealing out the cards.

"Well, that I can get behind." He smirked, "What do you call this game again?"

"Egyptian Rat Screw." I told him.

"Excuse you?" Mike started to get riled.

I sighed, "It's the name of the game."

"You know if you really want to make a bet, Mike, we could bet on the show." Sean told him, "If the girl's actually gonna agree to write it."

"That might be interesting." Mike agreed, "I could probably go for that bet."

"You do and you'll be sleeping on the couch." Sasha warned him as she played her card.

"I'm out of this one, Sean." Mike immediately turned down his offer. We would have laughed if it was anyone other than Mike.

"Really?" Ash asked Sean, playing her card, "You have nothing better to do than bet on whether someone will write a play?"

"No, not really." He replied as he placed his card down.

Even though the group of us had spent time getting to know each other better as the theatre was being rebuilt, Sean remained an enigma. He didn't really have a social life that we knew of outside of working for the theatre. We knew that he had lived in Virginia at one point because he grew up with Heather, but he was not originally from there and did not live there before he moved here. Thinking about it, we really knew almost nothing about him other than he was friends with Heather, who wouldn't tell us even if we asked. She would tell us that it's his story to tell, if he chose to, and not hers. I think that might have been one of the other problems Buster had when it came to their relationship. Heather herself was an enigma in a way. We found out a lot when she basically outed herself as Heather Elena Greyson, the sole heiress to a large fortune, which had been from very old money that had been invested incredibly well. There wasn't too much that we didn't know generally about her life after that, everything about her life sort of blew up to the surface. It was kind of like Tony Stark outing himself as Iron Man.

"So, is there actually going to be a meeting or are you two yahoos gonna argue all day?" Sean called over to Heather and Buster, after he collected the pile he had just won, "Some of us have places to be."

"Have you installed the alarm system and gone through the candidates for the security team?" Heather asked him.

"Finished them this morning." Sean answered.

"Then you can go if you want." She replied, and then addressed everyone, "Anyone who has finished their duties can go home. Until we have a show, you will not need to come in unless you wish to or are called by Mrs. Crawly, Buster, or I." She explained and then looked to Jake, Zach, and then rest of the band of Rising Phoenixes, "Rising Phoenixes, you have a concert in three weeks. Your rehearsals start tomorrow morning, come in ready and with original music. Until we can get copyright for the songs you want to cover, we will need original songs." She then turned to Mike and Sasha, "Mike, you and Buster will be researching public domain songs for the next few weeks for your concert. You may not be able to do Sinatra, but many of the songs that he sang should be in the public domain. We got away with covers from major artists last go around because the audience didn't have to pay for the show. We would have been in serious legal trouble if they had." She addressed Mike first and then addressed Sasha, "Sasha, we will need you here while they're doing the construction on the costuming and wardrobe department of the theatre to make sure it is up to your satisfaction. You and I will also have a meeting at the end of the week, so that we can start putting together applications for new hires in your department, so that you can have a staff." She then turned to me, "Miles, we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss what is needed for the technical crew. Please arrive on time."

We all nodded in understanding. Sean packed up his deck of cards and we all left, leaving Buster and Heather to go back to their dispute.

 **Heather's POV**

I left shortly after the others. I had meetings of my own to schedule, and now that Sean has gone through the candidates I had selected for his security team, I could arrange for them to be released and hired. I had already arranged everything with the lawyers for them to be released, it was all set, except for one. Joey DeMarco wasn't available for bail, but Peter Maddox was. Peter Maddox out on bail with probation and community service in the theatre. Mr. DeMarco was given a trial period of community service in the theatre until his trial for the eligibility to be released on bail.

"My name's Heather Greyson, I have meetings with two of your inmates." I told the receptionist, "Their names are Peter Maddox and Joey DeMarco."

She nodded in acknowledgement, "Who would you wish to speak with first?"

"Mr. Maddox, please." I answered.

"Of course, ma'am."


	21. Chapter 20: Hard to Be the Bard

**AN: Hello everyone, so here is the next chapter. It's short, but it sets up for future chapters.**

 **A few of you have brought to my attention through private messages and reviews that the film was green lighted for a sequel by Illumination. Since the film would not come out until Christmas of 2020, if it does end up happening because films can be dropped for other projects, the possibility for this story having a sequel will not be looked at until after the sequel releases.**

 **The song for the title of this chapter is Hard to Be the Bard from Something Rotten.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter. If you have any ideas for this story or if there is anything you'd like to see, please let me know.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty: Hard to Be the Bard**

It took the better part of an hour, but I finally was able to see Peter Maddox. He looked like he had been sitting there for a while and expecting someone else. I doubt they would have told him more than that he had a visitor. Although, I could tell he knew that it wasn't Johnny by his posture. He would have known that the moment he was led in here. If it were Johnny visiting him, he would have been brought to a visiting booth instead of a private room.

"Hello Mr. Maddox." I greeted him kindly, sitting in front of him, "My name is Heather Greyson."

He straightened from the position he was in and nodded a hello. He didn't say anything, he was a little too busy trying to figure out why I was visiting him.

"I'm guessing you were not informed of the reason for this meeting." I admitted my suspicions.

"No." He replied shortly.

"That's too bad." I sighed, "I believe this meeting would have started off better if they had. You see, I am the one who will be paying your bail."

"And why would you do that?"

There was a mix of confusion and disbelief in his voice, which was understandable. I was a perfect stranger to him, why would I want to bail him out?

"I know your son." I answered simply, "Johnny works for the Moon Theatre, which I happen to own. I've taken the liberty to look into your background, Mr. Maddox. Does your son know that you originally worked in law enforcement? What happened to make such a drastic change?"

" ** _That_** is **_none_** of **_your_** concern." He replied icily, "What does **_that_** have to **_do_** with **_any_** of **_this_**?"

"I would like you to work for the Moon Theatre." I replied, deciding to ignore his tone and the infliction in his voice, "If you agree, you would be working security for the theatre as well as doing other odd jobs here and there in tech as needed. You will be provided room and board, for you will be on probation, and not allowed to go a hundred yards from the theatre, which would be your home instead of going back to the garage. For the first 180 days, your work in the theatre will be your community service and not eligible for pay."

"That's six months!"

"It is." I nodded, keeping my cool, "Everything you need will be taken care of by the theatre. Although, if you choose to rob, burglarize, or steal anything in the theatre, or commit any other criminal act, you will be back here without another chance to get out."

"If I do this, I'll get to see Johnny?"

"Without a doubt." I affirmed.

"I'll do it." He agreed.

"Good, now do you have any problems with Mr. DeMarco?"

"Which DeMarco?"

"Joseph DeMarco." I clarified.

"Joey?" He scoffed, "The guy's too quiet to have anything against him, spends most of his time reading."

"Good, cause you'll be working with him."

"You're bailin' out Joey?"

"Not quite." I answered, "That's neither here nor there though. I'll make sure the paperwork is filled out, so that you'll hopefully be released by the end of next week. Your apartment should be all set by then."

 **Layla's POV**

"So how do we start this?" I asked Johnny, handing him a bottle of cranberry ginger ale as I sat down next to him on the couch in my apartment.

"No Guinness?"

"I only have Strongbow, Disaronno, and a few different types of rum at the moment." I replied, taking a sip of my soda, "But I thought I'd be better if we were completely sober while writing this."

"So, if we have problems with the story, we pull out the fancier shit."

"If we run into writer's block, we pull out the rum and watch Pirates of the Caribbean."

"All of them?" He asked unsure.

"No, just the first one."

"Curse of the Black Pearl is the only good one."

"Oh, the others aren't bad."

"They aren't." He agreed, "But parts of them are better than the films as a whole."

"So how do we start this thing?" I asked him, getting back to topic, "Where do we start?"

"The audience should know which fairytale the play is based on, so maybe we should start somewhere in the middle of the story."

"Like the Prince and his men searching for Cinderella."

"Exactly." He nodded, "Is her name actually Cinderella?"

"You know, I have no idea." I replied, "We should probably address that. Since most are familiar with the French version of the fairytale because of the Disney film, it should probably be a French name. It would be kind of interesting if it wasn't even close to 'Cinderella' or had 'Ella' in the name. I wonder if anyone else has ever noticed that the Prince never asks what her real name is in most of the films or books, except for Ever After. We should watch that."

"We'll just add it to the list of movies we'll watch if we get writers block."

"What's that list total to?" I asked, "Two?"

"Pirates and Ever After."

"We could also add Into the Woods and The Princess Bride to the list." I suggested and then looked back down at the blank word document on my laptop, "You know what screw this, you want a drink?"

"We have soda and what happened to doing this completely sober?"

"We're just as distracted as we would be buzzed or even with a few drinks, so why not just do it with a few drinks?"

"Whatcha making?"

"Pineapple juice with a few shots of coconut, pineapple, and aged dark rum." I answered, "Kinda like a hard dole whip or a pina colada with more of an emphasis on the pineapple than the coconut."

"Is that like one shot of each or a few shots of each?"

"Like a couple of shots of each."

"That's a lot of rum." He replied, "How about I make the drinks?"

"If you want." I shrugged.

He stood up and went over to the kitchen to make the drinks.

 **Heather's POV**

It took another half an hour to switch between Mr. Maddox and Mr. DeMarco. It would have been easier if they had allowed me to just speak to them both at the same time. When they brought him in, I could see that everything I had heard about him was true. He was a quiet, solemn gorilla with a book in his hands, which happened to be _Summer_ by Edith Wharton. He sat down at the table and set the book down in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. DeMarco." I greeted, he merely stared at me with an undecipherable gaze. I took this as a sign to continue. "How would you feel about doing community service in the Moon Theatre?"

"My niece works for that theatre." He stated quietly, "She was recently in a show."

"She was." I nodded, "She's currently writing one for the theatre now."

Okay, that was half true. She never actually agreed to write it, she was only strongly urged to. We'd have no way to actually see if she did until it was in our hands.

"She always did have a fondness for stories."

"We hope she can help us tell ours." I replied and then veered back to topic, "We hope you can be a part of the theatre as well by choosing to give back to your community for your crimes by volunteering and working at the theatre."

 **Layla's POV**

About four hard dole whip drinks later, we had the beginnings of a good story and the makings of a horrendous hang over for tomorrow morning.

"How's the writing going?" Ash asked as she came in to the apartment later that evening.

"Pretty good." I answered, "It's been going really well since we got the right motivation."

"What she means is we had to get almost smashed before we actually started figuring out the story." Johnny corrected, "We ended up watching some films and a couple of musicals before we outlined the story."

"So you two are hammered and writing our next show?"

"Pretty much." We answered.

"Can I help?" She asked amused.

"Sure." I answered, "Why not?"

"It might be best." Johnny told her, "Before you do, we might want to set this up a little differently." He lifted my laptop out of my hands and plugged it into the TV with the HDMI chords, so that we could see the document on a bigger screen. "Ash, can you type? You're going to be the only sober one as we go. It'll also be easier and faster if we can act it out."

"Sure." She replied and then sat down by the computer.

"We're also going to need help with possible songs for this as well if they want to turn this into a musical." Johnny continued.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Ready?" Johnny asked me.

"Uh yeah." I replied, "But it might be better if we had a couple more to act of off."

"I'll call Meena." Ash volunteered, taking out her phone.

"I'll text Miles." Johnny pulled out his phone as well.


	22. Chapter 21: Pure Imagination

**AN: Hello everyone. Here is the next chapter, which is titled after the song Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.**

 **With this chapter you will get to see a bit of the next show that the Moon Theatre will produce. It will be a musical and I do have part of the opening number written.** **I've got ideas for another show after this too.**

 **If you're interested in helping with the show or have any ideas or suggestions for the story in general, please let me know.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty-One: Pure Imagination**

What started out as just Miles and Meena coming over turned into a group of us meeting at the theatre to put together this play or musical, we weren't quite decided on what it would be at the moment. At first, it was Miles, Meena, and Gunther who joined us. Then, mos _t_ likely by the insistence of Sasha, she and Mike joined us. Zach, Jake, and Lani were next, follow shortly after by Dylan and Billie. Heather and Sean were the next two to join us. Last, but not least, Buster joined us.

"Okay, let's start this over again." I called to everyone, "Now that we have more animals coming in, we're going to incorporate you into the show have you be a character. We're still working out the details of the story, so as we go on with the play say what you think the character should say, if I don't like it, we can change it or rephrase it. I'm going to give you your character now, read the outline and the notes for your character. Guys might end up with girl characters, girls might end up with guy characters, doesn't matter, just do the part. Understood?"

They all gave their own separate affirmation and agreement to the conditions.

"Johnny, you're Taran."

"You're sure you want to keep that as his name?" Johnny asked.

"More than sure, he's the only main character who doesn't have to be French; might as well give him an interesting name." I answered, and then turned to Miles, "You can play pompous fop, can't you, Miles?"

He rolled his eyes, "Is that you're way of asking me to be the Prince?"

"Yes, you will be Prince Tristian while we're working out the story." I told him.

"Taran and Tristian?" Mike questioned, "That's not going to get confusing."

"It's done on purpose, Mike; you have Naval Captain Nigel Wilder." I replied, and then turned to Sean, "Sean, you will be taking on the role of Pirate Captain Liam Horne." I turned to the rest of the crowd in the audience, "You guys will be used and put into parts as we need you, while you are waiting you will be helping Buster or Ash make sure everything's recorded. Buster is typing up the play, Ash is recording the audio on my phone. Or you will be helping Heather pinpoint possible moments for musical numbers if we choose to turn this into a musical when this is all said and done."

"Wait, who are you going to be?" Mike asked confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, "I'm going to be in the role of Nicole."

These roles were all temporary while we were putting together the show, we'll cast the roles later. Most likely look for new talent as we do.

"Alright, let's start this thing!" I exclaimed and then went off stage.

Miles ran on stage to take his spot with Jake following right behind to be Prince. Tristian's Captain of the Guard, as well as Zach as the footman, who followed right behind Jake with the slipper in hand.

"Sire, we've searched every village in the kingdom." Jake told Miles, "This is madness, the only thing you know about this maiden is the size of her foot."

"I know that when we danced, I knew she was my one true love."

Jake looked at him pointedly, "With all due respect, last week it was the Duchess of Champagne, before that it was that strange girl with the long hair in that tower, and then there was that princess with the sleeping disorder."

"This is different." Miles replied, "Ever since the ball, everything's changed."

"You have said that with every single girl you've chased after." Jake stated, "What makes this one so different?"

"I fell in love with this one." Miles told him, "It was love at first sight. We can't stop looking for her now."

Miles ran off the stage with Jake and Zach following after him. Eddie, who had arrived after my spiel, played with the lights a bit to signal the change of scene. Billie and Lani came onstage with Meena to play the stepsisters as well as Jake and Zach. Both Billie and Lani pretended to try on the slipper, but as the story goes, it fit neither girl.

"Do you have any other maiden in the house?" Jake asked Meena.

"Only a scullery maid." Meena answered, "However, it could not be her slipper. She didn't attend the ball."

It felt odd watching Meena bring the wicked stepmother to life. She was too kind for the role and looked uncomfortable as she tried to act the part.

"The decree states that all maidens in the kingdom must try on the slipper." Jake stated, "The scullery maid must try on the slipper as well."

"Of course." Meena nodded. She went off to wing of the backstage where I was standing.

"You're doing great." I told her, before we headed back out. I pretended to try on the slipper and they made the motions and cheers to say that it fit, and then Eddie tampered with the lights again to signal the end of another scene.

Zach was the only one who remained on stage.

"After that day, Cinderella was taken to the castle." Zach told the audience, "She was to be given lessons in royalty and educated before she could marry Prince Tristian."

As Zach continued to set the scene, I turned to Johnny, "There should be something bigger there with the footman and the villagers."

Johnny nodded, "A song would fit there, big group number of gossiping villagers instead of just him talking."

"Yeah." I agreed, "The prince should have some type of song at the beginning too."

"Yeah, after he says that it was 'love at first sight', he could probably go into song." Johnny pointed out.

"Something about how his life had changed in that moment and how he's chasing after his current dream." I suggested.

"It would be kind of funny if it were the shortest song in the musical because it's recycled with every other girl he's been in 'love' with."

"Oh my god…" I said in realization.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"The prince's song could be a prelude to the big group number." I smiled at Johnny, "Open with the Tristian as we did, they're taking and he goes into his song. We could do the entire slipper scene in pantomime, dim the lights as the slipper is put on Nicole, and then go into the huge group number with the gossiping villagers. The footman's leading the big number."

"And it would bring in the idea of things aren't possibly going well by bringing in Nicole."

"Exactly." I nodded, "She wouldn't be called Nicole once though."

"Because they all think her name is Cinderella."

"Because no one ever decided to ask her what her name was."

"Until Taran."

Eddie flickered the lights to signal a scene change and I went onstage.

"You had best get changed into something appropriate." Billie told me, pretending to play a lady in waiting, "You shall be dining with the prince tonight."

"You mean I cannot go in this?" I asked sarcastically.

"Her Majesty had a new dress made for you to wear for the Prince tonight, my lady." Billie replied, ignoring the sarcasm.

"Lovely…" I replied, trying not to roll my eyes. This would be one of the reasons why I would probably cast someone else to be Nicole. You couldn't get me in a damn dress for all of the money in the world.

"How is it coming, my lady?" She asked, "It's supposed to be one of the latest styles in London."

"Women in London must have learned not to breathe." I retorted.

"Yes, I do say the Prince will like it." Billie surmised, picturing the dress, gesturing to me, "It shows all of your assets."

I shuddered to think at what she was referring to as my assets. I saw Johnny's look from where I was on stage, he was very amused by her comment. Yeah, well let's see how much of those assets he'll be seeing anytime soon. I sighed, even I knew that was an empty threat.

"Can we pause a moment?" I asked Ash and Buster. They both stopped what they were recording. Ash stopped the voice recorder on my phone and Buster stopped typing. "I don't have anything for the next couple of scenes or where I want them to go, so can we just jump to after Nicole meets Taran?"

"Sure." Ash replied, "I'll start a new thing."

"I'll pull up a new document." Buster told me.

"Can we talk about possible song positions?" Heather asked.

"The Prince is going to have a small song at the beginning and then instead of the long exposition by the footman, it's going to be a large group number with the footman and the villagers." I told her and then started to explain mine and Johnny's idea for the songs and how they're connected.

"Where do you want to start?" Buster asked me.

"The jail cell where Nicole makes the deal with Taran." I answered.

"Alright." He nodded.

Johnny came on stage and when Ash gave us the signal, we started the scene.

"You're the girl from earlier." Johnny remarked as he started the scene.

"I am." I nodded.

"Why are you here?" He asked confused.

"I've come to make you a deal." I stated, "I get you out of here and you take me with you."

"Bloody hell, I saved a woman with a hero complex." He muttered.

"I do not have a hero complex." I retorted, "Someone with a hero complex seeks heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve."

He rolled his eyes, "Why do you want out so badly, love? Looks like you have everything you could ever want here. Aren't you supposed to be some type of princess?"

"I have no freedom." I sighed, "I want the freedom to govern my own life. You can give me that, if you let me go with you."

"If I let you stay with me, be a pirate, and go wherever I go, you will let me out?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." I answered.

"Alright." He nodded, "How are you getting me out of here?"

I pretended to start to unlock his cell, but he stopped me, "A few quick things before you unlock that."

"If you go back on this deal-" I started.

"I may be a pirate, but I keep my word. You can come with me and I let you follow me around to your heart's content. I just need to know what I am getting myself into before I let you open this door."

"That's fair, I guess."

"Do you know how to use a sword?"

"No, but I'm a fast learner."

"Do you know your cartography?"

"Sort of, I can read and I know where the contents and most countries are and global positioning. Every little city or port in every different country is where it seems to get lost for me."

"I can live with that." He stated, "Can you cook?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"I'm not going to ask if you can sail a ship, you're a woman." He stated, "I'll have to teach that as well."

I nodded, "Looking forward to it."

"Now not that that dress is not flattering, but do you have anything more masculine?"

I looked at him confused, "Masculine?"

"Your dress is very flattering on you, much more than the ridiculous gold monstrosity you were wearing earlier, but it is not quite right for the situation you're about to get yourself into." He replied, "Pirates are also very superstitious about women on their ships."

"Then why did you agree to the deal?" I asked him confused.

"Because we both are trapped in a situation that we need each other to get out of, we're after the same thing: freedom."

"I don't have anything masculine, but I believe I know where we can find something for me to wear."

"Oh?"

"We're going to have to borrow one of the ships first." I replied and then looked back to Ash and Buster and gave them a signal to say that was the end of that specific scene. They both stopped their recordings again.

"Why don't we take a break for tonight?" Heather suggested, "Pick this back up in the morning, It's already almost half past midnight."

Everyone seemed to agree with the suggestion and we all headed out.

"Hey, Miles and I are gonna just stay up the rest of the night." Ash told me as she walked past, "There's a Fast and Furious marathon on TV, we're gonna try to catch the rest of it. The apartment is yours."

"Thanks Ash."

"Enjoy your night." She winked.

"You too." I replied.

"What's up?" Johnny asked as he made his way over to me after Ash left.

"You're in my apartment tonight."

"Really?" He asked a little too happy, "What are we going to do?"

"We're getting back to work on this musical." I told him.

His face fell, "We can't start it again in the morning?"

"No, we've got a lot of work to do, especially now that it's a musical."

"When did we decide that it was a musical?"

"Since I started getting ideas for Prince Tristian's song." I replied as we headed into our apartment building.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm still playing around with it in head."

"What have you got so far?"

"I don't know yet, but it's getting a little repetitive."

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"The words 'for a moment' keep repeating." I replied, "I don't know why."

His eyes lit up in realization, "We might be able to use that to our advantage."

"We could?" I replied as we made our way into my apartment. How would that work to our advantage? It's just three little words. "How?"

"Because everything happens in a moment."

I looked at him, my eyes lighting up in the same realization, "I think we have an idea for a song."

After about a half an hour, we had the beginnings of our opening number.


	23. Chapter 22: Here I Go Again

**AN: Hello everyone. Here is the new chapter. Short chapter, but sets up a couple of things for up coming chapters. Most the chapters are going to come out are going to lead up to the chapter with the musical, which I am trying to put together. I've got the opening number, the basic outline for the plot, and a handful of scenes. So, it'll be a while before you see that chapter.**

 **If anyone has anything that they would like to see in the story, has suggestions, or even would like to help with the musical, please let me know. I'd be happy to hear your suggestions.**

 **The chapter title is from the song Here I Go Again by Whitesnake.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty – Two: Here I Go Again**

"It's been a week and all we've got is a hand full of scenes and one song." I groaned, "How are we supposed to do this?"

"Well, you've already answered why we don't have much yet." Johnny replied as he sat down on the couch next to me, "It's been a week. Writing a musical takes time, it's not surprising we don't have much yet. When it comes to how, I'm guessing with a lot of patience."

"I really don't have much of that."

"Luckily, I have enough for the two of us." He responded, "When I went in yesterday to pick up the sheet music we had left for the opening number, I started taking to Sean. Apparently, Buster's planning on doing open casting calls in the next couple of weeks."

"Did you ask him to see if he'll wait until we have a full book?"

"Yeah, and he's already tried making that argument to Buster." Johnny sighed, "He thinks we have enough to at least figure out the cast."

"That's insane." I retorted, standing, "Has he fucking lost it?! We've got a handful of scenes and a song. One song and it's a musical! How-"

Johnny took my hands and sat me back down next to him, "We can do this, we just have to keep working. We'll work 'round the clock if we have to."

"If we're working 24 hours that's gonna be an inconvenience to Ash and Miles." I told him.

"Not if we stay in the theatre." He suggested, "The top floor of the theatre has apartments now, we could live there while we work on the show. We'd have access to the stage and piano at night, and the theatre's empty most of the day right now."

"How early do you want to move in?" I asked, quickly agreeing to the idea.

"Let's do it in the morning." He replied, "That way we can at least get some sleep tonight. It's not like we're really going to doing it any anytime soon."

"Among other things." I bit back a smile.

"Such as?" He asked with a half a smile.

"This." I replied pulling him into a kiss, he responded fervently. I pulled away just as things were starting to get heated, "Let's go to bed, Johnny."

"It's still early, we could still work on this." He replied, not really getting it. I didn't blame him, we didn't usually do anything when he slept over. Lately we'd work on the musical and sleep, before that we'd watch movies, hang out, and sleep. He didn't get past second base when anything did happen.

"Johnny." I said his name again, hoping he'd get the hint.

He searched my eyes, starting to connect the dots, "You sure that's what you want?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

"That's what you said last time we started to think about this." He reminded, "Are you sure you want to take this step? I know how you feel about intimacy, especially after your last relationship. We don't have to be intimate in that way if you're not ready, I'll will stay with or without it. I won't leave. I'm in this relationship because I love you, not just for a physical relationship."

"I love you too." I told him, "Let's see where the night goes, okay?"

He nodded, "Alright, any time you want to stop, tell me."

"I will." I promised, before kissing him again.

 **Heather's POV**

"Are you sure you have everything you need, Mr. Maddox?" I asked him one more time after Sean and I finished moving him in. We would have called Johnny, but with how things were going with the musical, we thought it might be better if he stayed where he was. He'd see his dad the next time he came into the theatre.

Mr. Maddox simply nodded in reply.

"We'll let you unpack then." I told him and we headed down the stairs.

"Okay, we're going to need this all set for auditions week after next." I heard Buster say to Eddie.

I looked to Sean, "What is he talking about? What auditions?"

"He wants to start to auditions in a couple of weeks." Sean answered vaguely.

"I heard that part." I replied annoyed and then called down to the two of them. I didn't greenlight any auditions or open calls. "Auditioning for what?"

"We're holding auditions for the Cinderella musical week after next." Buster informed me gruffly.

"Without a book or sheet music?" I scoffed, and finished making my way down the stairs "They have one finished song, Buster, a concept for a story, and a handful of scenes. There isn't enough material to start auditioning actors to fill the roles."

"Johnny and Layla can continue to develop the musical while we rehearse." He replied.

"Have you lost your mind?" I seethed. They didn't need that added pressure and stress, writing the damn thing was stressful enough. I took a deep breath to regain my calm demeanor and continued, "There will be no auditions until the show has a finished book, I will not have this musical being written during its rehearsal. If parts of it need to be reworked later that's one thing, but to actually write it is a whole other. Until this musical is finished, this theatre will only be hosting concerts. If you chose to audition bands for concerts, fine, but there will not be auditions for any musical we produce here while it's still being written. I don't care if it takes a year before it gets out to the audience, we will give them the time that they need."

"Eddie, have Mrs. Crawly change the posters." Buster told him annoyed, seeing no point in arguing the matter further. It was his own damn fault for jumping the freaking gun.

"The posters should have never been made in the first place." I retorted, "We don't have a show."

"We have a show."

"It isn't finished!"

"We can't sit around until they finish writing it, we have to move forward with the rest-"

"Everything can easily change on a dime in the writing process." I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn't going to do this, not with this show. He wasn't going to rush this or them. "They are still writing the book, give them the time that they need. They will come to you when they finish writing. Let's just hope they don't decide to do anything drastic to get this done because they feel rushed. The last thing we need is for them to feel rushed and try to push out this musical, they won't be able to give us the best version that they can if they feel pressured to finish it by a certain deadline. You should be happy that Johnny was able to even convince Layla to even write it. I don't know if you've noticed, Buster, but she is incredibly self-conscious about her work. Maybe you're a little too close to notice or have known her for too long to notice. If you asked her about the song she sung for the show, I think the nicest thing you'll hear her say is that it was okay. You have someone who has little confidence in herself and very self-conscious writing a musical that hundreds, possibly thousands depending on the length of the musical's run, will see and will be judging. Give her and Johnny some space and some time. That's the only way that they're going to finish it."

 **Eddie's POV**

"Why is she so aggravating?" Buster groaned after Heather left for the night.

"Because she's right." Sean spoke up from his seat in the orchestra section.

"Don't you ever go home?" I asked him.

"No, it's too entertaining here." He replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, I had walked into that one. The only one he had ever gave a straight answer to was Heather. When he saw the roll of my eyes, he continued, "Why would I want to go home? Anything I see here is going to be more interesting than anything I do at home. We've got mobsters, criminals, multiple romances at various stages, lovers' feuds that are almost entertaining enough to be their own spectator sport and often are." He laughed lightly to himself, "If I knew this group would be this entertaining, I would have flew out when she originally asked."

"I'm glad we can be your source of entertainment." I replied bitterly.

"What did you mean when you said that she was right?" Buster asked Sean finally speaking up.

"One of the reasons I think you find her so aggravating is because she's right and you know it." Sean replied pointedly, "Everything you two argue about is about the theatre. You both have different ways of doing things, you're more impulsive than she is, and in all honesty, you have no patience when it comes to the shows that you produce. While you're very good at what you do, sometimes you like to try to push things along to show before they're ready. Like the musical Maddox and Baxter are writing is nowhere near show ready and you're already thinking of casting it. Your way may have worked somehow in the past, but this isn't your theatre anymore, its Heather's."

"Nana owns part of the theatre too." I pointed out.

"Yeah, and how much does she really contribute outside of money?" He retorted, "Not a whole lot, Heather's the one here every day bustin' her ass for this place when she doesn't have to be. Does she get a thank you?" He asked us, and then looked at Buster, "Did she get one for saving you from financial ruin?" He looked back to me, "Or you for giving your lazy spoiled butt a job without even applying or providing any skills? Seriously, the reason you were hired is because you grew up with her. I know I was, but I also had the certain skill set to go along with my job. I don't know if I could say the same for you." He crossed his arms, "You two want to continuing arguing with her every step of the way, fine. I don't give a shit, it's entertaining to watch, but don't bother starting to argue that she's wrong on any of the points she's made, especially not to me." He left.

"You think he's right?" I asked Buster.

Buster sighed, "I don't know what to think anymore, I haven't for a while."


	24. Chapter 23: Say You Will

**AN: Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well. I'm doing fantastic. Sunday, I went out to dinner and celebrated my birthday a day early, which was fun. I hardly ever get to go to The Cheesecake Factory. We didn't tell anyone it was my birthday on Monday, but I chose to order a drink because how often do you turn a quarter of a century and our waitress (who was absolutely lovely) happened to catch it on my license and surprised me and my family with a special birthday surprise when she brought out my strawberry shortcake (which was absolutely fantastic). I was so happily that I could of cried and this is coming from someone who hates to be surprised. Apparently, I'm in for one more surprise coming later this month, some type of small trip. I'm anxious and excited at the same time. I also really wish it wasn't a surprise, all I've got to go on is I'm being promised food and a car trip, so I'm at least intrigued.**

 **To the mysterious guest with the suggestion in the review, thank you for your suggestion. You just might see it in the story, but not soon. I think I know where I want to put that, but I have to finish the musical first.**

 **Tiryn, thank you for the ideas for the musical, I really like them. I'll have to find a way to work them into the musical. As for the song idea, I agree there should be one with the pirate crew. I was hoping to do one with the villagers and at least one or two with the pirate crew.**

 **This chapter is titled after the song Say You Will by Fleetwood Mac.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter and your Monday, I know I will.**

 **Happy reading everyone.**

 **Chapter Twenty – Three: Say You Will**

 **Layla's POV**

While Johnny was packing his stuff in his and Miles apartment, I headed down to the theatre to set up my things in one of the rooms on the sixth floor. With the new renovations, the fourth through the seventh floors were filled with apartments for anyone of us who chose to live there or stay there while we worked. The fourth floor was mostly dedicated and set up to be dressing rooms, the fifth through the seventh floor were actual apartments. They may have been a slightly bigger version of a college dorm room, but they were designed for temporary residency, not permanent. Each one had a bed, a desk, wardrobe, and an adjoining full bathroom. If you wanted to cook, you would have to use the kitchen in the concessions on the second floor, and if you had to do laundry, you would be using the industrial washers in the wardrobe department on the first floor, which was also the basement. You had everything you needed though. Thank god for elevators, well not god since the existence of deities is highly questionable, but whoever invented the elevator should have gotten some type of metal or something for one of the best inventions ever. Call me lazy, but I'd rather not have to go up six flights of stairs every day.

After I finished unpacking my things, I locked up the room and stashed the keys in my pocket and then headed down to one of the rehearsal spaces on the third floor so that I could continue working on the song and the half that I actually had for this musical. When I found one with a piano, I spread out my notes on the stand and then started to figure out the melody for the Prince's song.

"If it doesn't sound right, I could always just fix it." I told myself and started to play, " _For a moment,_

 _I chase a dream._

 _For a moment,_

 _I'm in agony._

 _Just a moment,_

 _And I'm intrigued._

 _In that moment,_

 _I fell in love with you._ " I groaned, "That doesn't sound right."

"Well, the words aren't the problem, I think it's the amount of time spent on them."

I turned to see Johnny leaning against the wall, all of his bags were on the floor next to him.

"How long have you been there?" I asked with a smile.

"For a moment I'm in agony." He answered, coming over to sit by me "The notes should be shorter. The guy's running all over the kingdom to find some girl. He lives for these chases and is excited about looking for her. It should show in the melody and the way we could do that is having the melody upbeat, fast, and a little hard to sing."

"Why hard to sing?"

"Because he has to keep that momentum throughout the song." He answered, "You know how when you get excited you tend to talk fast?"

"No." I replied sarcastically, "I don't notice that little quirk at all."

"You do it when you're pissed too."

"Angry or drunk?"

"Both." He replied, "Although you tend to talk more when you're wasted than when you're upset." He added and then went back to the song, "Could you play that song at half the speed?"

"Yeah." I nodded, and then started to play through the phrase.

"Okay, that's around the speed that we'd want the captain of the guard singing." Johnny stated, "He wants to get through this as quickly as possible because he's tired of chasing the prince around. The prince should be singing slightly faster than him."

"Probably the only song he gets in this musical-"

"He disappears after Nicole leaves."

"He gets cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Uh yeah, he holds this big party and it's interrupted. He doesn't react very well to the interruption and he and everyone around him get put under this curse." I replied nonchalantly, "The only way for him to really learn from his actions is if he goes through it himself. He's turned into this grotesque creature and all of the surrounding villages are put under a spell to forget who he is and that the castle is there."

"So, let me get this straight." Johnny said as he put the information together, "Cinderella's Prince is Rapunzel's, Sleeping Beauty's, and Belle's prince?"

"Yeah, the guy gets around." I responded, "Belle is the last one and the only one who he doesn't chase."

"We're not going to be showing that, are we?"

"No, the musical's about Nicole, not Tristian."

"And yet, she doesn't sing, let alone speak, until after the first two songs."

"What have we got for the villagers song?"

"Just the Footman's part before we bring the villagers in." I told him as I started to play the melody I had been messing around with in my head, "His part of the song is an aside and he's watching the crowds of villagers, who are all gossiping about the prince and the girl. After listening to a few outspoken individuals, he goes into his song." I explained, before starting to sing what I had, " _Always chasing a dream,_

 _So it would seem._

 _How long this one will last?_

 _No longer a question,_

 _But routine_

 _The prince loved the chase_

 _Any thrill met his tastes._

 _Without it,_

 _He wouldn't know what to do._

 _It's never the maiden,_

 _It's always the clue._

 _With this maiden around,_

 _The gossips in town are aghast_

 _At how and why she had to be found."_

"I like that." Johnny commented after a few moments.

"I do too." I agreed, "Ideally the villagers would come in after that. Not really sure how that's going to go, but I have the words 'Because of a shoe' in my head."

"How are you going to fit that in?"

"I don't know." I answered, "But I'm not going to force it. The song should naturally flow and designing around a lyric would disrupt that. We have enough to worry about that shouldn't be one of them."

"Speaking of things to worry about, who's our antagonist?"

"Captain Wilder."

"The naval captain?" Johnny asked, "Why?"

 **Heather's POV**

"So what do you think?" I asked Sasha after I finished showing her around the expansive wardrobe department, which had spanned the entire first floor or basement level of the building.

"You really out did yourself, Heather." She complimented, "This is amazing."

"I didn't really have much of a hand in it." I replied, "Just designed the outlay and told the contractors what should go where."

"It looks amazing all the same." She told me, "We just have to get a crew in here to start working."

"They won't have much to do until at least the concept for the musical is fully formed."

"Do you know how far along they are with that?"

"Not really." I answered, "Layla doesn't really like to share much, but I know enough from talking to Johnny that they're still trying to work things out. They're having trouble with the songs and piecing everything together."

"That can't be easy."

"It certainly doesn't seem to be." I agreed, "And with Buster wanting to push this musical out as soon as possible, they're starting to feel the pressure."

"There's no possible way that it could be shown to audiences anytime soon." Sasha replied in confusion, "You still need at least the book, the sets, and the wardrobe. All of which you don't have."

"I agree." I told her, "That's why I told him that the musical wasn't going to be shown until everything was finished and ready to go, which could take a year, maybe two, I don't know, but I'm not going to rush them. All you'll get from that is a rushed and messy product. They could give us something amazing if they're given the time."

"You really believe in them, don't you?"

"Of course, I do." I answered, "They're very talented individuals. They could be the next Kristen and Bobby Lopez if they worked hard enough and given the chance."

"I think they'd rather be compared to Menken and Rice or Menken and Ashman."

"The Lopez's were the first composer male/female duo that I thought of that had something to Disney."

"Layla does like Disney." Sasha replied, "Probably one of the reasons why she started of with Cinderella."

"I was half expecting her to start off with Beauty and the Beast."

"You can't change something you think is perfect." Someone else replied. We turned to find Miles walking over to us, "I just wanted to let you know that the contractor that's working on the concessions room just called, they won't be here until tomorrow. The chef who applied for the opening though is here for the interview." He informed, and then asked, "You really think we need a chef for concessions?"

"We will when it's finished." I answered briefly.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"You'll see." I replied, "Thank you for letting me know, if you could direct them to my office and let them know that I'll be up in a few minutes, I'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah sure." He agreed still confused and left.

"A chef in concessions, what are you planning?" Sasha smiled. Due to our close ages and similar interests, she and I had become pretty good friends.

"I always thought just having a soda fountain, tea, and coffee, and store bought cookies was a missed opportunity." I responded, "So, I put out an advertisement for a chef and bartender to work in concessions."

"What kind of chef would work in a theatre?"

"Apparently a pastry chef." I answered, "Or at least she's the only one who responded."

"Why would a pastry chef want to work in a theatre?"

"I don't know." I replied unsurely, "But I'll take what I can get."

I headed up to my office to meet with the pastry chef who had been sitting and waiting in my office. I didn't know much about her other than her name was Stephanie Watson and that she was a pastry chef from Arizona. I would have talked to Meena, but with a voice like hers, why would she want to be stuck in a kitchen? She should be on stage.

When I opened the door to my office. I was greeted by the sight of a raccoon, looking down at her lap and fidgeting with her paws as she quietly murmured words of encouragement to herself. She'd be an interesting addition to our motley crew.

"Hello Miss Watson, it's nice to meet you." I greeted her in a businesslike tone.

"Stevie, please." She told me gently.

"It's nice to meet you, Stevie." I nodded in acknowledgement.

 **Miles' POV**

"You on for poker night next Saturday?" Sean asked me as he passed by with Mike, "We're trying to get all of the guys together to do something. Everyone's been working their asses off, thought we might do something fun."

"Sure." I agreed, "I doubt you're gonna get Johnny to go with the musical."

"We'll do our best." Sean replied, "We're still trying to get Buster in too."

"Why are you excluding the girls?" I asked in confusion after a few moments.

"They've got their own thing going." Mike answered, "Something about karaoke, or drinks, or whatever."

"Or you didn't listen when Sasha started to tell you about it." I responded bluntly.

"I listened enough to know she ain't gonna be home next Saturday." He told me.

I shook my head. That dude was gonna have his ass landed on the couch once Sasha caught wind of that comment. There were no 'ifs' when it came to saying or doing something in this theatre during the day, it was too much like living in a small town. You say or do something, everyone knows. I didn't feel sorry in the least for him either, Sasha was too good for him.

As I headed out of the theatre, I called Ash, who had been home working on a few songs for her concert in few weeks, "Hey, it's me. You wanna meet for lunch?"

"Miles, I have to work on this set. I can't-"

"You also have to eat." I responded, "It's a basic need. C'mon, I'll let you pick the place."

"You'll let me pick?"

"If you agree to meet me, you can pick." I reiterated.

"Okay, Gustin, I'll meet you." She agreed.

"Text me the restaurant." I told her, "See you there, Braddock." I hung up, slightly amused and bewildered at the use of our surnames.


	25. Chapter 24: Here You Come Again

**AN: Hello everyone! How are you? I'm fantastic, I just got caught up on Once Upon a Time. Anyone else a Once fan? I've got this idea for a possible story that could take place after season six, but that's neither here nor there because you're here for Sing. I will say the musical is coming together very slowly, but surely. I've got basically the entire plot, it's just the songs. I've got two finished songs, I'm working on a third, which you'll see a small bit of it in this. I don't know how many songs I'm going to put in it. I'm kind of making it up as I go when inspiration strikes. I don't want to force any of the lyrics. If anyone would like to help. just message me. I'd be happy to hear your ideas.**

 **This chapter is titled after the song Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty – Four: Here You Come Again**

 **Layla's POV**

"Okay, let's put some type of short scene there." I told myself as I marked the spot in my notes and then continued with the next short bit that I had, which was much more up-tempo and, at the rate this was going, kind of sarcastic as well. I was pretty proud of my accomplishments this afternoon. I had finished the villager/footman number and started the first song for the female lead.

" _They call me Cinderella_

 _As if that's what my name really is._

 _I've tried not responding,_

 _But they never get the hint._

 _You'd think after all this time,_

 _They'd learn to question it._ "

"That's not bad." I heard someone comment. The sound of the voice surprised me since the only one who I had been expecting was Johnny, who had just left to go pick us up food. I turned to see who it what thinking I had misheard the voice, I turned to see who it was. "Mr. Maddox…" I gasped in surprised, "How-"

"My bail was paid by Miss Greyson in exchange for working for the theatre." He answered before I could ask.

"Does Johnny know?" I asked.

"Not yet." He responded.

I didn't ask why he hadn't told him, some things were best left said in the moment than before it happens. Although with everything they've gone through, I would have thought he would have said something to him. Although who am I to judge, I don't think Johnny's told him about me or us and I certainly wasn't going to tell him. That was Johnny's job, not mine. I already told my Uncle Joey and Buster, I took care of telling the ones that I needed to tell.

"The song for the musical you've been workin' on with Johnny?" He asked after a few moments, noting that I didn't respond.

"Yeah." I answered, "Did Johnny-"

"No, Miss Greyson told me." He cut me off before I could ask him, "You seem to spend a lot of time with my son."

"What can I say?" I responded anxiously, wishing Johnny had at least mentioned something to his dad, "We enjoy each other's company."

What was I supposed to say? I know you barely know me, but I'm dating your son and we moved into the theatre because we started writing a musical together and we were too distracted by each other to really get any work done. I'm aware he hasn't told you about our relationship yet, but we're in love with each other and we've basically had something going since we were in the singing competition, possibly shortly before. Am I supposed to tell him that his son is absolutely wonderful? That he's the best guy I've ever met? That if I believed in a deity, I'd swear he was heaven sent? That he often makes me forget that I ever dated anyone before him and I never want to date anyone else? The way he speaks in that beautiful Welsh accent of his makes me fall in love with him over and over again, and that's without going into when he recites Shakespeare? Or that I love how he can keep up with my mind and how much I talk, that I can have an actual conversation with him without having to reiterate myself over and over? That he listens to what I say, and not only listens, but actually participates and furthers the conversation? That I love how much of a gentleman he is while never tainting his image of being a tough guy and how expressive and kind his eyes are? Or that I love how ungentlemanly he can be physically too at times? That if he asked, I'd marry him tomorrow? That he makes every dream, or even idea, I've ever had when it came to my love life come true? That I've waited for a guy like him for so long that I started to doubt he actually existed?

No, I couldn't tell Mr. Maddox any of those things. I couldn't even tell Johnny all of those things, he knew I loved him. That's really all he needed to know, the rest of it wasn't as important.

"Dad?" I could hear Johnny ask in confusion and surprise from behind his dad. He must have went to the sandwich place around the corner.

"I'll let you guys talk." I told them, standing from the piano bench and walking over to Johnny. He handed me the food, squeezing my hand as he did so in reassurance. He was finally going to tell his dad about the two of us. "I'll put them in the fridge for now. Take your time. We're not going anywhere." I assured referring to myself and the sandwiches. I left the two of them to talk.

 **Johnny's POV**

"How did you get out?" I asked my dad confused.

He ignored my question and changed the subject, "Your friend's nice, very pretty, how long you been seeing her?"

"Did Layla tell you?" I asked, my confusion only growing more. I didn't think she would have, we had both agreed that I would tell my dad when I was ready. I wasn't fond of the idea of telling him while he was in jail. He wasn't supposed to be there longer than a year or two, if I couldn't make bail before then.

"No, she didn't have to." He answered, "The look on her face when I mentioned you was enough. Yours would have confirmed when I asked, if I hadn't put it together when you came in. Were you going to tell me?"

"Of course, Dad." I responded quickly, "Of course, I was going to tell you. With everything going on, I didn't know how to tell you."

"It would have been nice to know." He said bluntly.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, "I should have told you sooner."

"I like her, Johnny." He told me, "She's got spunk. Try not to let her get away."

"I don't plan on it." I managed to choke out.

"So, what's this I hear about you co-writing a musical?" He asked.

I smiled and started to tell him all about the musical. Something I never thought I'd ever talk to him about or that he'd show any interest at all.

 **Heather's POV**

"Welcome to the team, Stevie." I congratulated her after we finished our interview. As far as I was concerned, I didn't need to see any more chefs for concessions. I had my chef. I just needed a bartender. "We have a concert next Friday, so if you'd like to start then, we can discuss all the details on Monday. We'll have the kitchen stocked with everything you need at least by the day before we'll just need a list from you of the supplies and ingredients you'll need. At the moment, unless you have any interests in other theatre departments, we'll only need you when we have a show or concert playing."

"I don't know if this helps you any, but I do have a bachelor's degree in art." She said unsure, "I could help with the sets or something."

"Could you tell me more about that art degree?" I asked her interested, "What was your concentration?"

 **Miles' POV**

"So how was that date with that girl?" Ash asked after the waitress left with our drink order.

"Which one?" I asked confused.

"The one you met at the concert, the persistent one." She clarified, "Was there more than one?"

"Oh, the rabbit girl..." I nodded in understanding, and then answered, "An absolute nightmare."

"What?" She asked surprised, "What happened?"

"So in the middle of dinner, she brushes her foot against my leg while I was adding pepper to my potatoes." I told her, "It surprised me so much that I jumped and it caused the pepper to go into her eyes."

"That must have been painful."

"Probably just about as painful having your pants set on fire." I replied bluntly.

"She set your pants on fire?" Ash asked incredulously.

"It was by accident." I explained, "When the pepper flew into her eyes, she jumped in shock, managing to shift the table and knock over one of the candlesticks into the other and then both fell onto the table in the process. The candlesticks caught the table on fire. I didn't move in time and I got caught on fire too."

"Are you okay?" She asked concerned, I could tell there was a hint of amusement in her voice as well. It was easy to tell she felt to conflicted and guilty to laugh at the incident."

"It's okay to laugh, I did too once it stopped hurting." I told her earnestly, "The burns were minor and it mostly just singed my fur. Ruined my jeans, but I'm okay."

"Probably think twice before having candles with dinner."

"No, that's one of my signature moves- well, PG moves." I smirked, "What I should have rethought was the dinner; I changed up the menu, therefore causing everything else to happen. I didn't know what else to do though, she didn't eat pasta, pizza, or any other type of carb. Salads aren't romantic, or at least in the sense that I wanted, and I wasn't going to put in the effort I'd need to make one of my signature dinners for her."

"You've really thought this whole thing out, haven't you?"

"You know my stories and the type of guy I used to be." I scoffed, "Of course, I have. It used to be my game."

"So what are these 'signature dinners' of yours?"

"Artichoke and spinach lasagna, quiche, French onion soup, gnocchi, spinach ravioli, enchiladas, and ratatouille."

"Why didn't you make her ratatouille?"

"Because unless the girl's the most desirable girl in the galaxy or a close friend who happens to be in my apartment when I making it, they'll never see it."

"I've had your ratatouille." She replied unimpressed, "You make it without mushrooms, it's not that spectacular."

"I do that for two reasons." I told her, "I can't stand them and Layla was having dinner with us and she's allergic."

"Either way, it's not that great."

"That's because you had it by itself." I pointed out as the waitress finally came back with our drinks. We gave her our food orders, and then she took our menus and left. "There is a difference between eating it as a meal and have it being used as one of the dishes for a romantic dinner."

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"

"But it always works." I shrugged.

"No way, that shit can't work."

"It does." I affirmed.

"So what would you do for a girl like me?"

"Like you?" I asked before mulling it over, "Gnocchi with a tomato and basil sauce topped with mozzarella. The sides would be garlic bread with a Parmesan crust, grilled vegetable skewers, and stuffed peppers. The appetizer would be fried spinach ravioli with a pesto sauce on the side. Or at least that's what I'd do if I was still fully in the game."

"That's simpler than I thought it would be." She replied after a few moments.

"Well, I'm not looking to impress a girl like you with food." I told her simply, "There's no point, that isn't your niche. No, where I'd get a girl like you is through music and conversation."

She scoffed, "What would you do? Play the drums?"

"No, I'd show you my vinyl collection."

"You collect vinyl?"

"What can I say?" I replied, "I'm a bit of a purist; and if I was the guy I used to be, I make you dinner, start a conversation, making sure it led to something revolving around music, and then would show you my rock albums. Depending on how the night went and your level of interest in the collection, I'd put one on and ask you to dance."

"Very smooth." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Which one would you choose?"

"For you?" I asked smugly, "I could go with a few different artists, most likely, Yazoo, Whitesnake, or Meatloaf. Classic artists with some edge to them. I'd either pick Yazoo's album Upstairs at Eric's from '82, Whitesnake's self-titled album from '87, or Meatloaf's third Bat out of Hell album, The Monster is Loose, from 2006. Nothing that would be anyone's first choice or thought as romantic, but each one has that one song."

"You're good."

"I was the best."

"You didn't do anything like that with the rabbit girl though."

"Nope, just dinner."

"Why?"

"Because I hate who I used to be." I answered as the waitress came with our food.

 **Heather's POV**

A pastry chef and a set designer and painter in one hiree, this was fantastic. Probably the best news that I've had all day. I invited her to the screening on Saturday night for our girls' night. We were going to screen the last four episodes of season six Once Upon a Time. Most of us were fans of the show, we thought it would be nice watch the episodes in an auditorium and test out the new projector and film screen we had put in. Originally it was going to be just the musical episode, but then the two part finale came out and we decided why not just screen the final four episodes. Sasha and Layla were putting together the drinks, Meena was bringing dessert, and I was ordering the pizzas. If all of us actually liked karaoke, we would have done that, but half of the group kind of hates it and the bar scene, not that Ash and Meena were really old enough to be admitted into most of the bars around us. The ones they would be were kind of dull for the rest of us.

"I see the interview went well." Layla commented as I came into the green room. She was sitting on the couch with her laptop in her lap typing away.

"It did." I affirmed, and then asked, "Where's Johnny?"

Unless they were working, they were hardly apart, especially now since they were working on the musical together. The only time they were actually apart now as far as I knew was when one of them went to get food.

"Talking to his dad." She answered simply, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wanted to make sure everything was set." I replied, "I wasn't expecting for you two to move in. Try not christen any of the rooms."

"Even if we did, you wouldn't know." She smirked.

"You know his dad's gonna be living here too." I pointed out.

"Two floors below us." She replied, "I noticed the room was locked when Johnny and I were looking for a room."

"Of course, you did." I said, before changing the subject, "You still on for this weekend?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "I've got the episodes set up on my laptop. Speaking of Saturday, I heard the weirdest thing from Sean when I ran into him. You know the guys think we're bar hopping and doing karaoke?"

"Where'd they get that idea?"

She shrugged, "Mike decided not to listen to Sasha when she told him about it."

"How do you even know that?"

"Mostly a guess." She responded, "Mike's the one who told Sean and the rest of the guys about the girls night and he sucks at listening to anyone who isn't himself."

"I hope you two aren't talking about me." Buster commented as came into the green room.

"No, but the description isn't too far off." I retorted. Not wanting to deal with his bullshit at the moment, I left. I was having too good of a day to let an argument with him ruin it.

 **Layla's POV**

I suppressed a laugh, "You are really off your game with her. You two ever going to bury the hatchet?"

"If she can stand to be in a room long enough for me to apologize, then I hope so." He responded, "Maybe we can rebuild a friendship or at least a good working relationship."

"But Buster, you-" I started, but he stopped me.

"Too much has happened, too many things have been said, too many arguments have broken out" He sighed, "We'll see where things go when I get a chance to apologize."

"Can I give you some advice?" I asked, closing my laptop.

"Sure." He replied softly.

"Don't wait too long." I stood, "You'll regret it. Maybe not now, maybe not soon after, but eventually you will."

"When'd you get so wise?"

"I'm not." I replied, "That's just something I had to learn the hard way."

I shifted my laptop and then headed upstairs to my room.

 **Ash's POV**

I sighed as I watched Miles walk away with that stupidly oblivious smile on his face, the one I can't help but stare when I see it. I don't know what it was about that grin, but that's all he had to do anymore for my defenses to go down. It was only for a moment, but they still did. I enjoyed being around him, I'll admit it. I wasn't going to fawn all over him though, what would be the point? I wasn't that type of girl and from the looks of it, he didn't think much of the ones who did either. Hearing about the dates he's had was hilarious though, I enjoyed his stories and how he would tell them. It was always entertaining to watch and listen to him tell a story, I've never seen anyone talk so much with their paws. He was always so animated and happy to tell a story. It felt really good to be around him, much better than it did to be around Lance when we were dating towards the end. Miles was a nice change of pace, very different than what I was used to. I knew we weren't dating, but I don't think I'd mind giving it a try if he asked.


	26. Chapter 25: Where Do We Go From Here

**AN: Hello everyone, I hope you all are having a fantastic Memorial Day, if you happen to celebrate it. This chapter is titled after the song 'Where Do We Go From Here' from Buffy the Vampire: Once More With Feeling, which I think fits what happens for two of the couples very well.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty – Five: Where Do We Go From Here**

 **Layla's POV**

"And then it just stops, I've got nothing." I groaned in frustration to Johnny at the song.

"Play that second verse again." He replied.

I started to play the second verse again for the third time, " _They call me Cinderella_ " I sang, " _As if that's what my name really is._

 _I've tried not responding,_

 _But they never get the hint._

 _You'd think after all this time,_

 _They'd learn to question it._

 _It seems they're all too busy_

 _Taking bids_

 _At how long I'll last_

 _Compared to the other picks._

 _With everything going_

 _The way it is_

 _Even I'm considering_

 _Getting in on it."_

"I think it's more of a matter of how we should start the next verse." Johnny commented shortly after.

"I don't have a next verse." I replied.

"Then maybe we should step away from it." He advised, "I've got some ideas for where to go musically with the next verse, but lyrics aren't my thing. I just compose."

"But without you, all I'd have is a decent poem."

"You can compose." He pointed out, "You've done it before."

"I have, but I have an easier time with lyrics than I do with composing the music."

"I wouldn't be able to compose if it weren't for you and Mrs. Crawly." He responded, "I barely knew how to play, I hadn't played since I was a kid."

"That was all you." I told him, "You put in the work, and if you're going to credit one of us, I'd give it to Mrs. Crawly. I pulled you away from the piano and the song you were working on more than I helped. I was more of a distraction."

"A very welcome one." He kissed me softly, "How about I give you a little distraction? We don't have a time limit on the show anymore."

"We're supposed to be writing."

"It doesn't hurt to take a break though." He replied, "You've been staring at that song for an hour and you've been playing it over and over for days, it's time to step away for a bit. Maybe wait until Monday to look at again."

"What do you propose we do?"

He shrugged, "Disneyland's an hour away."

"How is going to Disney gonna help?"

"It'll get your mind off the musical for a day."

"We're supposed to be writing." I reminded, "Not goofing off."

"One day isn't going to hurt." He responded, "It might help with the writer's block."

"Won't the others notice we're gone?"

"With everything going on around here?" He asked, "I doubt it."

"Let's go." I agreed. We both got up and headed out of the theatre and to his car.

"Where you guys goin'?" Sasha asked as we passed by her.

"Out." We replied happily.

"We'll be back later." I added as I got into Johnny's truck.

 **Sasha's POV**

That was odd, but whatever they choose to do with their time is their choice. I went to down to the wardrobe department, only to find Mike sitting on one of the tables.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked as I walked over to him, "Don't you have rehearsal?"

"I do." He nodded, "I wanted to see you first, I don't get to see you as much since you started working down here."

"I like being down here."

"You're barely home anymore."

"And you don't listen to me when I am." I responded sadly, "How did my girls' night go from a screening a couple of episodes of a TV show, dinner, and drinks to a night of clubbing and karaoke?"

He looked down with a grimace, he knew I was right. He knew he hadn't listened, I had caught him, and I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't angry though like the expression of on his face portrayed that he assumed I was. I was upset, sure, but I felt no anger towards him, only sadness and confusion. Why engage and interact with others if you're not going to listen? What was the point of a conversation if you weren't going to listen to the other animal in the conversation? Why bother?

I took a deep breath after a few moments of silence and then told him, "Look, I've got a lot of work to do down here. I've been given a few commissions for the concerts coming up. Suits and dresses that I need to tailor and mend, costumes that I need to design for that Cinderella pirate musical that I've got a meeting for tomorrow with Heather, Layla, Johnny, Buster, and the new girl, Stephanie or Stevie, I think that's what her name is. They've finally got an almost full working script together, they just need the songs and a couple more scenes to finish the musical. I don't have time for conversations that I'm going to have to repeat later and neither do you."

"What are you saying, Sasha?"

"That we both should be working." I responded. I knew where he was getting at, but decided not to answer if he was going to ask indirectly.

"I heard that part." He said pointedly, "I meant us, what are you saying about us?"

"I don't know." I answered, "I know this relationship, if you even consider it one at this point cause I don't even know anymore, it won't work if we can't communicate with each other."

"We talk just fine, wh-"

"No, we talk at each other, not with each other." I corrected, "I can only talk with you with you choose to listen and the only time you do is when it benefits you. Even when you do, you only listen to the parts that pertain to you. I can't deal with that, Mike, not again. I've been through that before, I have no intention of doing again."

"Fine." He replied, his mouth drawing hard line, "I don't need you."

I immediately regretted saying what I had as soon as he left. It was too late to go after him now though, I couldn't take back anything I said to him, especially when I believed them. It would be an empty apology, he didn't deserve that.

I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my pants, I pulled it out to see who it was and then depending on who it was turn it off. It had been Heather, she wanted to know if I wanted to get together tonight. There were microphones that needed to be tested and Rosita thought it would be fun if the three of us used them tonight after everyone was gone. The stage would be set up for the dress rehearsal that Mike had tomorrow, we'd have everything at our disposal and no one would ever know we were there, except for Layla, Johnny, and Mr. Maddox, not that any of them would say anything. I responded that I would be there, providing that there'd be drinks involved. If I was going to be singing, I was going to be wasted doing it. I didn't sing, especially not sober. I haven't done so in years and don't plan to do so again. I wouldn't have the courage. Heather let me know shortly after that she had several bottles of wine and Rosita volunteered to be the designated adult of the group, so we could have as much wine as we wanted. Heather was a godsend and she didn't even know it. This would be the perfect thing to take my mind and hers off of everything. It'll probably make the meeting tomorrow interesting, but knowing Layla and Johnny, that meeting won't start on time anyway. I'd be very stunned if they showed up before we did. We'd most likely have enough time to get coffee, aspirin or Advil, and a late breakfast before they show up, which was fine by me, especially if I was going to get wasted the night before.

I turned on my iPod, put in my earbuds, and started to get to work. I had a lot to do if I was going to take the night off. I wasn't going to leave anything undone and left to chance, I knew I wasn't going to want to do much tomorrow.

 **Heather's POV**

"Sasha's in." I told Rosita as I put my phone back in my purse, "You sure you can get the night off to spend with us?"

"Oh yeah." She replied, "Norman's taking the kids to see a movie."

"You didn't want to go?"

"No, he gets to sit through the Ice Age sequels." She responded, "I've sat through all of the Land Before Time movies and the Disney sequels, he can sit through a few Ice Age movies."

"What's it like?" I asked her genuinely curious.

"To be a parent or to have so many kids?" She asked, trying to clarify.

"Both I guess?"

"Busy." She replied after a couple of moments, "You're always moving from one thing that you have to do or one kid that you have to take care of or who needs your attention to the next. It becomes your life, they become your life from the moment they're born. There's no 'if's, 'and's, or 'but's about it. You cannot make them conform to your schedule, you have to follow theirs no matter how hectic it may be. That may mean sleepless nights, scattered days, long and tiring mornings that lead to even more exhausting afternoons, but at the end of the day, it's completely worth it. Parenting is the greatest joy and the greatest mess you'll ever experience. I know I probably sound like I'm giving a lecture or speech, but that's what it is or at least the best way I can describe it." She explained, "Why do you want know?"

"I'm the only child of only children." I answered as we headed into my office. I set my bag down in my chair and started to unpack the books I had stuffed into it, "I never had any siblings or cousins, no aunts or uncles, no family, except for my friends. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to have a family."

"You have us." She reminded.

"I do." I nodded, "I know I have you guys, but sometimes I wish for something more. I always wanted a family. Even when I had my parents, I was predominantly on my own. If they were with me, they were still working. The only time they ever seemed to stop is when we came here, to this theatre. For a few hours, everything was about me, the show, being together as a family; it was what I looked forward to every year. It was the only thing I looked forward to growing up. Christmas wasn't much of a to-do with my family, they saw it as a day to work from home. Any presents I got, if I got any, were picked out by secretaries." I stopped myself, realizing that I had went on a tangent. I looked down not knowing what to say about going off. "Sorry, you didn't need to hear all that."

"Is that why you bought the theatre?"

"I mean it was the only happy memory I had of my parents, but not the complete reason, just one of the many." I replied, "When I was looking to start over, the theatre was really the only thing that really stuck in my mind. I wasn't looking to buy it originally when I moved out here, I just wanted to be near it and have the chance to go on a regular basis. When I had my job at the bank, it was by chance that I was given the Moon Theatre account."

"What changed to make you want to buy it?"

I thought for a few moments, it was hard to deny the truth even to myself. I knew what had changed my mind, I always did. "Buster." I answered, and then I saw who was at the door. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, yet that never seemed to work for Beetlejuice when I thought of him. "C'mon in." I told him, pretending that I had noticed him before I said his name. I looked back at Rosita, "I enjoyed lunch, Rosita. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah." She nodded, and then looked to Buster and smiled, "Hi Buster."

"Hey Rosita." He greeted. She left, shutting the door behind her.

"What can I do for you, Buster?" I asked politely and professionally, "I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Not very, only long enough to gain some insight into one of the theatre's owners."

"How much did you hear?"

"From you talking about your family to what lead you to buying the theatre."

"Oh." I replied, not really knowing how to respond.

"I'm sorry." He told me. I looked at him confused, not knowing what exactly he was apologizing for. "That must have been very lonely."

Pity. That was the last thing I needed from anyone nor was it something I deserved. I was wealthy, I could have had anything I wanted. Most would have done anything to have that privilege. With me, however, I just looked like that kid from that movie Frozen, who would have given anything and everything for a sibling to interact with and just made up friends to interact with. I had Sean, who my parents despised, during school hours during the year and Eddie sometimes during the summer. I was lonely, but I didn't need pity. I didn't deserve it.

"Why are you here, Buster?"

"I owe you an apology." He responded, "Several most likely."

I looked at him perplexed. While I didn't dispute his answer, I don't know if I wholeheartedly agreed with it either. Did he owe me one? That was debatable. He had owned the theatre for years and now someone else did and they were taking it in a different direction than he was originally taking it. It doesn't help either of us that we kind of, sort of, dated for a bit. Although, I don't know if we were together long enough that it even qualifies. Nor does it help that when I'm not pissed off at him, the feelings are still there. The attraction is still there, or at least it is on my end.

"Can I sit down?" He asked after a few moments, "I was hoping we could talk."

"Yeah." I answered, "Of course."

He sat down in the chair in front of the desk. After a few moments of awkward silence, Buster spoke up, "There are so many things I'd like to say to you, Heather. I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you and how I've been acting. You didn't deserve it. I should have respected your opinion and decisions, especially since the theatre is now yours."

"Why'd you do it?" I asked. I had my guesses, but I wanted to know from him. He was the reason we were sitting here, the reason we started to argue, why not know? I don't even know how all of this started. One minute we were fine and then the next we were in the middle of a verbal battle royale.

He sighed, "I don't know. It could have been out of habit, or jealously, or want to keep things the way they were going. The theatre had been mine for so long and it's been such a part of me that I didn't want to let it go, despite my feelings towards them or even if they were better than I could even imagine in the role."

"You still have feelings for me?" I asked, not being able to help myself. The words came out of my mouth before they were a finished thought in my head.

"They're a bit more complicated than they used to be, but yeah I do." He answered definitively without missing a beat, "Of course, I do. You're infuriating, stubborn, and you make me want to tear my fur out, but everything I felt for you before all of this happened is still there. They're muddled, but they're there."

"So are mine." I admitted.

"They are?" He asked stunned, "After everything-"

"You may be the most aggravating koala I've ever met, but there are just some feelings that can't be shaken away."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly, "I guess we just keep moving forward."


	27. Chapter 26: Jungleland

**AN: Hello everyone, I've got a pretty long chapter for you guys this go around. The chapter is titled after Bruce Springsteen's Jungleland, which is an amazing song. Personally, I think it's his best, but that's just me. Quite a bit of this chapter is kind of filler for part of it. You get a character backstory, which was a lot of fun to write, especially since this character isn't really given much of anything in the film. There's also a mention of another character, who isn't new, but it's been a very long time since they popped up.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading everyone!**

 **Chapter Twenty – Six: Jungleland**

"Heather, any idea how to take care of kids?" Ash asked when I picked up the phone after Buster left my office. I rolled my eyes, she had better have a good reason for not only that question, but why she missed her rehearsal. "I tried calling Layla, who does and is good with kids, but she's not answering her phone. One of my neighbors had a work emergency and needed a babysitter last minute. I offered to babysit months ago, if she ever needed it, but I never thought she'd actually take me up on it."

"Just a tip, Ash, never offer a mother, especially one with a young child, to babysit if you don't think she'll ever ask." I told her, "It doesn't happen that way. What time is the mother coming back?"

"Four." Ash answered, "She said she'd call if there were any changes."

"Would she care if you brought the kid here?"

"I don't know." She replied.

"Okay, you had a rehearsal this morning, which you missed." I reminded her, "If you come in with the kid, do your rehearsal, I will look after the kid. You'd only be away from the apartment for a couple of hours tops. We cut it and you can come in early tomorrow and make up the time you lost."

"Okay." She agreed, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, just get here." I told her, "How old is the kid?"

"About five weeks."

I sighed, "How quickly can you be here?"

"Ten minutes."

"Be in my office in fifteen."

"Leaving now." She hung up.

I was probably not the best one to look after an infant, I don't have any kids. I don't even know if I want to have kids, adopt maybe, but actually have? I don't know. I'm most likely the one Ash called because I'm the only one out of the group of us with couple of hours to spare.

 **Layla's POV**

"How weird…" I mentioned as I looked at my phone, "Ash called."

"She leave a message?" Johnny asked.

"Nope." I replied as we walked into the park, "Must have not been very important."

"So, where do you want to go first?"

"Adventureland." I answered without hesitation, "Go on Indiana Jones before the line gets too long and then we can go to New Orleans Square and go on Pirates and Haunted Mansion, and then-"

"Or we can take it ride by ride and make it up as we go." Johnny suggested.

"Yeah, we can do that." I agreed, "But we're definitely going to have to come back to Pirates and Haunted Mansion later tonight, and Thunder Mountain, and Jungle Cruise, and the Matterhorn."

"What about Splash Mountain?"

"I guess if you want." I shrugged.

"Not a fan?"

"Not really, but I'll go on it if you want."

"Kind of."

"Okay." I agreed, "First thing's first though, if we're really taking a day off, the phones are going off."

"You're not going to get argument from me on that." He replied. We both turned off our phones and headed into Adventureland.

 **Heather's POV**

I looked down at the sleeping baby ferret after Ash went down to start her rehearsal, "What am I supposed to do with you?" I asked him rhetorically.

"In my experience, unless they're crying, nothing." I heard Sasha say as she came in, "But what would I know, I only have twenty younger brothers and sisters."

"What do they think of Mike?"

"I wouldn't know." She answered, "They all live in Nebraska and Mike's never expressed interest in meeting my family."

"And yet you stay." I remarked not exactly understanding her reasoning, "So what's up?"

"Do you have a copy of Johnny and Layla's updated script, so I can use it for concept art?" She asked, "I have an older copy that's only half the script."

"Yeah I'll print it out and have it sent down to you."

"Great." She smiled, "Good luck with the kid."

"Thanks." I replied as she left.

I pulled out a book and started to read as the kid was sleeping. I wasn't sure what else I was supposed to do, I didn't think there was really anything I could do. Was there something specific I was supposed to do? There wasn't anything I could think of, but I have absolutely no experience with little kids. I didn't really know anything about them. The only ones really had any interaction with were Rosita's kids.

 **Ash's POV**

"The set sounds good, but you really need to show up on time." Buster told me after I went through the songs, "Also, I think we're going to need a few more songs. We'll schedule another rehearsal when you have them. For now though, we should discuss want you want to do in the background. Do you want a backtrack like the first show or do you want actual musicians behind you?"

"I'd prefer musicians, but I don't care."

"Well, your brother and his band have their own concert to rehearse for, so you're going to need to find your own band." He replied, "Miles is a drummer and he isn't busy at the moment, I'd suggest starting with him."

"Right." I nodded in agreement, "I think my brother has a friend he went to school with who plays the bass, I could talk to him. I think his name was like Alex or something. I would talk to Johnny or Layla about the keyboard, but they're kind of busy at the moment. I can see if Miles or that friend of my brother's know someone."

"Okay." He replied, "Make sure you can get them to do it and have them available to start rehearsing next week."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Run through the songs again and then you're free to go." He told me, "I let Heather know that we'll be adding musicians." He left. I pulled out the first song again and started to play.

 **Buster's POV**

"Hey, it looks like Ash is going to bring in a few musicians for her concert." I told Heather as I walked into her office. "Who's this?" I asked when I saw the baby ferret.

"His name is Blue." She answered.

"His name's what?" I asked in disbelief.

"His name's Blue Woods." She replied, this time putting her book down, "Ash is supposed to be babysitting him."

"Some people shouldn't have children." He sighed, "What kind of name is Blue?"

"It's not." She said, "It's a color."

"Says the koala whose name is simultaneously a color and a flower."

"Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house." She chided, "Your name is just as funny as ours."

"How is my name funny?"

"Do you know how many puns you can make from the name Buster Moon?" She asked, "You can make probably everything from movie and dance puns to cleaning ones."

"If by movie, you're referring to Ghostbusters, I've already heard that one." I responded, "I don't get the dance one, I don't want to know either."

 **Heather's POV**

I suppressed a laugh, but agreed, "Okay, but you can't point our names for being odd when your name is just as odd. It's not just us."

How did he not know that when you said his name fast enough it sounds like 'bust a move'? It even easier to spot it when Johnny or his dad pronounce his name with their very strong accents. I wasn't going to point it out to him, but I'm curious how he never made the connection.

"You said Ash needs musicians for her concert?" I asked going back to the original topic.

"Yeah, she's gonna talk to Miles and a friend of her brother's."

"Miles is already on the payroll." I replied, "As for the friend, they'd be volunteering. I'll see how they do and how well they get on with everyone else before I offer them a chance to interview."

"Alright." He nodded, "I told her to have them be ready to start by next week."

"If she can get them earlier, it would help."

"I'll see what she can do."

"That'd be helpful." I replied and then he left. Ash came in shortly after, picked up Blue, and then left.

 **Layla's POV**

"What do you want to do about dinner?" I asked as we walked around Tomorrowland.

"Depends, do you want to eat at a restaurant or do you want fast food."

"Well we can definitely afford to do either." I replied, "It depends on how much we want to pay."

"You mean how much I want to." He corrected, "We're not splitting the bill for dinner."

"We did for lunch."

"We picked up our food at different places." He reminded.

"We could skip dinner and go get dessert at Ghirardelli's" I suggested.

"If I remember correctly you did that for lunch, except it was funnel cake instead of ice cream." He remarked.

"You're one to talk." I laughed, "You've had beignets, caramel apples, macaroons, and churros."

"All of which you finished."

"That's true." I responded, "You wanna go to Earl of Sandwich? I know it's in downtown Disney, but it's quick and then we could come back in and ride the rides we want to tonight."

"Don't feel like going into California Adventure?"

"Unless we're going to Ghirardelli, I'm pretty content with staying here."

"If you want to stay here, we could go to Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante in Frontierland." He responded, "More of the rides you want to go on are close by."

"You're mostly suggesting that because you want flan, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

 **Ash's POV**

When I got home, it was only a matter of minutes before Blue's mom, Cassandra, came to pick him up. After they left, I texted Zach for Alex's number, so that I could see if he was interested in doing a show. I didn't know Alex personally, he was a few years older than I was. He and Zach never hung out outside of school, so I never actually met him. The only things I knew about him were that he played bass guitar and had been a bit of a Casanova while he and Zach were in school. After I got his number and a lengthy warning, I called Alex, who happened to be very familiar with the Moon Theatre, and he agreed to come up tomorrow. I texted Miles to see if he was up for doing the concert and if he knew anyone who'd be interested in playing keys, which he answered yes to both and that he'd come in tomorrow with his friend.

"That was easier than I thought." I commented before turning on the TV. I pulled out my computer and ordered a pizza. "I wonder why Alex knew so much about the theatre. Maybe Layla and Miles know him."

After the pizza was delivered, I invited Miles to come down, which he did with a movie in hand.

"Is that the entire Back to the Future trilogy?"

"30th Anniversary edition." He smiled as he shut the door behind him.

"Cool." I nodded, "Hey, do you know anyone by the name of Alex? I think he said he used to work for the theatre or something."

"Alex Morrison?"

"Yeah, him."

"Excuse me a moment, I have to go make a call." He replied before stepping outside.

 **Miles' POV**

I dialed Johnny's number and hoped he'd have his phone on by now. I knew he'd have it off most of the day when he told me he was planning to take Layla to Disneyland, but he should, or at least I hoped he would, have it on now.

"What's up, Miles?"

"Is there any way you can come back tomorrow night instead of tonight?"

"What?" He asked confused, "Why?"

"Please just trust me on this." I urged, "Don't come back tonight or during the day tomorrow. Stay in Anaheim."

"Tell me why."

"One of Layla's exes is coming in tomorrow." I told him, "Ash needed some musicians for her concert."

"Alex." He sighed, "That's the one coming in, right?"

"How'd you know it was Alex?"

"Layla and I know about each other's pasts." He replied, "Alex is a musician and he only one you'd call to warn us about. I'll talk to Layla, see what she wants to do." He hung up.

I went back inside Ash and Layla's apartment.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"I know Alex." I replied, "Layla knows him better than I do. I think he's an asshole, but great bass player. It's really not my place to tell you about him, you'll meet him tomorrow. You can make up your mind then. He'll probably be nicer if Layla isn't there."

"I don't understand, how does Layla play into this?"

"He's her ex." I told her bluntly.

 **Johnny's POV**

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and slid my phone back into my pocket. From everything I've heard about Alex, he was the last thing we needed right now. He was the last thing she needed right now. I walked over to Layla, who was looking at the one of the bracelets.

"Miles just called." I told her, "We need to talk."

"What about?"

"Alex is gonna be at the theatre tomorrow." I responded. It pained me to see her freeze uncomfortably as a slight twinge of fear washed over her. It was not terror, she wasn't afraid of him. It was the fear that came with the awkwardness, nervousness, and uncomfortableness that came with seeing an ex, especially one from a bad relationship that didn't end on good terms. As far as I knew, she hadn't seen him since they broke up. "He might be coming in regularly. If you're not ready to go back tomorrow and run into him. We can always go to California Adventure, or Knott's Berry, or SeaWorld, or Universal… We can go wherever you want, we don't even have to decide tonight. It's up to you."

After a few moments, she asked, "What are we going to do about tonight?"

"We close down the park and if you don't want to go back, we get a hotel on the strip."

"What about clothes and-"

"We pick up that stuff while we're here." I answered, "We'll figure it out."

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I can tell you don't want to see him and don't want to go back." I said plainly, "Even if I did want to go back, I wouldn't."

"I don't think we should go back tonight."

"Alright, I'll go make hotel reservations." I told her, "You should get that bracelet, it suits you."

 **Heather's POV**

I am convinced a little wine and good food solves all problems. Here Rosita, Sasha, and I sat on the stage talking, each of us with a glass of wine and Vietnamese food. We had gone back and forth for a while on which food we'd have, but after Rosita suggested the restaurant, it didn't take much further discussion other than what should we order. It didn't take us very long to test the mics, we found we had a better time just talking to one another and learning more about one another. It didn't take too long for Buster, Eddie, Sean, and Mike to join us, which we were too kind to say no. There wasn't a legitimate reason to tell them to leave, Sasha was the one to tell them to feel free to stay. Eddie, Buster, and Sean were more than happy to sit down, eat, and stay. Mike was more hesitant, but after convincing from Sean and Buster, he sat down.

"So what brought you guys to LA?" Rosita asked Sasha and I, "You guys could have lived anywhere. Why here?"

"I'm originally from McCook, Nebraska." Sasha started to tell her story, "I've got thirty siblings, ten older and twenty younger, my dad's a retired cop and my mom styles fur, so when it came small town gossip, if my family wasn't spreading it, it was about us."

"Why would it be about you?" Rosita interjected confused.

"I think it started when my dad had to arrest two of my older brothers for cooking and selling meth." Sasha replied nonchalantly, "Then I had an older sister who ran off and eloped with a chipmunk. I had another older sister who married a wealthy mouse a little over twenty years older. On their wedding night, he had a heart attack and died in the middle of his climax."

We all looked at her shocked.

"What?' She asked us, seeing our faces, "I'm surprised he made it past the foreplay." She added and then moved on, "Let's see, I had a younger sister who got pregnant at sixteen. I've got another sister who's a little too eager to please when it comes to guys."

"Did you just call you sister easy?" I asked in the nicest way I could.

"That was my intention." Sasha replied, "If thought she could make a profitable, clean, legal business from it, she would." She added, and then moved on, "I've got another brother who was suspected of a murder. He didn't do it, but he was almost convicted."

"How did all of this bring you here?" I asked her.

"Oh, I was tired of being the center of gossip, so when I graduated high school, I applied to California College of Arts in San Francisco. I've got a bachelor's in fashion design with a minor in textiles. Spent one summer working in Disneyland in the wardrobe department, another in Universal. Throughout the year while I was in school, I worked in the wardrobe department of the San Francisco Playhouse. Did so well, ended up being hired by them afterward. Got to work on the costumes for Our Town, The Crucible, Cabaret, The Fantastiks, My Fair Lady, Bell Book and Candle, Camelot, Into the Woods, and Company. In 2015, I moved to LA and took a job at a magazine as a freelance writer. Had that until I quit to start working here."

"What'd you write?"

"Show, film, and music album reviews, 'how to' articles, dating and fashion articles…"She listed off, "Once in a while a review of a restaurant or a club. I also wrote animal interest articles."

"How exciting." Rosita gushed in awe.

"It can be." Sasha nodded in agreement, and then remarked, "That's actually how I met Mike. If I wasn't gathering research for an article I was writing about that club, I wouldn't have met him."

"So how'd the article turn out?" I asked her.

"It didn't." Sasha laughed awkwardly, "I got distracted and the article turned out really shoddy, so I wrote a different piece. They were only expecting an article from me, they didn't care what it was." Sasha then looked over at me, "I shared my story, it's your turn. Full disclosure, what lead you here?"

"I'm going to need another glass of wine before I go into that." I responded.

"You have already full glass." Buster commented incredulously.

"Check back with me in ten seconds." I replied, before downing my glass of wine. I poured myself another glass and drank half of it before going into my own story, "I'm from Virginia, from this small town just outside of Manassas, that's too small to even pinpoint on a map. I am the sole beneficiary of a vast fortune that's only accrued over the generations. As far as I know, my parents were only children of only children, so everything went to me. I didn't have anyone to really be around growing up. Both my parents worked and volunteered, Sean was not permitted on the grounds since he was seen as a bad influence, and I only saw Eddie during the summer. So when I was at home, I was left to my own devices. Loneliness is never fun even when you're rich. After my parents died, I came out here because it was the best part of my childhood, and now I own the theatre."

"What happened to full disclosure?" Sasha asked.

"That's as much disclosure as you're going to get." I smiled, "I'm pretty boring otherwise."

"Bullshit." Sean commented.

"Shut up." I laughed in reply, "Unless you feel like telling your life story, _**Rocket**_ , don't comment on how I tell mine. If you want we can even go into how you got that lovely nickname of yours."

"You know what, I'm good." Sean backed down.

"That's what I thought." I responded as I poured myself another glass, "Maybe we should change the topic."

"How many of those have you had?" Sean asked, referring to the wine.

"Okay, that's not what I meant by changing the subject." I retorted.


	28. Chapter 27: Only You

**AN: Hello everyone. It's been a little while I know, but I've been a little busy. I've also been trying to write you guys a musical, which isn't the easiest process. I've got three finished songs, two fully finished scenes with the songs in them, and the musical's story as a whole is written. I've got to go over a couple things before I give you guys this chapter:**

 **1\. Sasha**

 **2\. Miles and Ash Romance**

 **For those of you who are unsure of who Sasha is, she is the little white mouse in the purple dress who got with Mike in the movie. When I noticed in the film, she wasn't really given a character, I took the chance to put my own spin on who she was. I did find out last week that even though her name wasn't said in the film, according to the film's Wiki page for her, her name was Nancy. I know what they were going for, to name her after Frank Sinatra's daughter, but I don't think the name suits her or how I want to write her and I think it's a little too on the nose. My version of the character's name will remain Sasha. If you have any other questions about the characters in the story, please let me know.**

 **I've got a lot a reviews and questions about Miles and Ash getting together. First, I'd like to say thank you for those. I'm glad you enjoy them. Second, I can't promise chapters that I haven't written yet to be focused on them. I can try to incorporate things if I can, but I don't want to promise on something and possibly disappoint you guys. I can tell you that they're going to show up more and I have ideas for them when it comes to this musical that I'm writing as well as a few other characters. I can tell you that I think you're gonna be happy with this chapter, especially the end. Miles and Ash are my slow burn. They will get together, but it's going to take time.**

 **Alex will be in the next chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven: Only You**

 **Layla's POV**

I gasped in excitement and started to wake Johnny, "Oh my god, Johnny, did you bring your laptop? I left mine back at home and my phone's dead. I need to write this down before I forget it."

"Bloody hell, Layla" He groaned half asleep, "It's two am in the fucking morning. No, I didn't bring my laptop, it's back at the theatre. Write what?"

"This verse." I stressed, "I need to write it before I lose it and I'd rather type it because I know if I write it on paper, I'll lose it. Although, I can't find any paper anyway, so it's kind of moot."

"Here." He said as he handed me his phone, "There's a Google Docs app on it, the first or second thing on there should be all the song lyrics for the show."

"Thank you." I responded gratefully.

"Yeah," He replied, before going back to sleep.

I quickly pulled up the Google Docs app, typed the verse, closed out of the app, and put his phone back in the charger that he had sitting on the nightstand beside him. I kissed his cheek and then tried to go back asleep.

 **Buster's POV**

"You are so attractive and so aggravating." Heather told me as we walked into her apartment.

I couldn't let her go home on her own, it would have been irresponsible. Rosita and Sean offered to take back home, but I said I would. The three of us were the only ones who stayed sober. I think I saw Rosita have only some of her first glass of wine. Sean didn't touch it at all. I only had half of my glass. Mike only drank enough for a slight buzz, he stopped pretty quickly once he noticed Sasha, like Heather, was going through it like water. I couldn't understand why, especially not when it came to Heather, until now. Or at least I had a guess why, but I didn't want to be that shallow as to guess myself.

"What?" I asked her confused, "Why am I aggravating?"

"You're stubborn, impetuous, and you do that thing where you twist words around that puts whatever anyone says in a way that benefits you even if that wasn't their intention." Heather listed off, "And yet, even after everything, my feelings haven't changed."

I was unsure of what to say to her. The only reason she was telling me this was because she was intoxicated. It's not that I doubted her feelings, I was very sure of her feelings being real. I felt the same way. I remained silent as she continued to speak. With my thoughts muddled in thought, it didn't exactly register what she was actually saying. I was too lost in my thoughts and the situation at hand. My mind didn't catch up with everything else around me until her lips were on mine. She pulled away once she had the sobering realization of what she had done.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." Heather apologized. My every thought that had been budding in subconscious took over in that moment, I did what I wanted to do and what I've thought about doing for what felt like the longest time. I cupped her face and brought her lips back to mine, kissing her deeply, which she reciprocated.

I pulled away as I came to my senses, "Wow, I almost forgot how-"

"How good that feels?" Heather asked, "I didn't."

If Heather hadn't had so much to drink, or anything to drink, this would be turning out very differently. Things the way they were though, in good conscience, I couldn't do more than kiss her. It would be taking advantage of the convenient situation before me. What would that make me if I did? How would Heather see me after I had?

After a few moments, I told her, "You should get some sleep."

"You're probably right." Heather agreed, "You're welcome to crash on my couch for the night."

 **Sasha's POV**

I woke up with the worst migraine I've had in years, I usually didn't drink that much. I showered and went out to the kitchen to make breakfast, only to find Mike cooking. What was happening? What about what happened yesterday morning? Did something happen last night? This wasn't adding up and it only made my head hurt worse than it already did.

"It's good to see you're up." Mike commented when he saw me, "How are you feeling?"

"I've had better mornings." I replied confused.

"Here drink this." Mike said as he handed me a glass of water, "I'm making food, which'll help with the hangover. And before I forget, your meeting was moved to tomorrow."

What was going on with him? He's never this considerate. Unless he's had a personality change, something was going on with him. How did he go from 'Fine, I don't need you anyway' to making breakfast in my kitchen in the matter of hours? Did he go through some type of Groundhog Day scenario? That's the only way I'd be able to see that much of a change is if he had somehow repeated the same day over and over and somehow became a better mouse.

"Um, Mike?" I spoke up to get his attention. When he turned to face me, I asked, "What's going on? Why the sudden change?"

"How much do you remember from last night?"

"Um, I remember being at the theatre, drinking a lot of wine, talking a bit about my family."

"Little is an understatement." Mike replied as he dished up the food, "Especially after we got back home." He set the food down on the table and sat down in the chair next to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning to him, fearful of what I could have let slip, "What did I say?"

"It must have been scary to find out that your boyfriend was in a gang and that he set your brother up for murder." He told me earnestly, "I would guess it was even worse when you had to testify against him. It's not surprising that that and all of the gossip that was circulating around your family sent you out here." He took my paw in his, "After everything you went through and everything I was involved in, why did you bother with me?"

"We accept the love we think we deserve." I quoted, and then answered, "I know deep down, there is good in you and that you care more than others notice. You wouldn't be here if you didn't."

He kissed my hand gently, "You deserve so much more, Natasha."

"Say it again."

"You des-" He started, but I stopped him, placing a paw on his cheek.

"No, the part where you said my name." I told him. It had been so long since I had heard my actual name, I had been so used to being called by Sasha over the years that I had missed being called by my actual name. When I came out to LA, I legally changed my name to Sasha.

"Natasha." Mike smiled.

"How-"

"You happened to mention it after I brought you home." He answered, "So I looked it up to see what I could find. The first thing that popped up was the murder." He searched my eyes to answer a question that he couldn't bring himself to ask. A question that even a night of restless sleep couldn't answer. Unable to find the answer, he asked, "Why would you put yourself in danger for me?"

"I love you." I responded honestly.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Mike apologized, "You were right about everything you said and I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to accept that things had to be different when it came to being in a relationship. That I had to be different."

"I never wanted you to change."

"Maybe I want to be better." He replied, "Maybe I've realized what I could lose, if I don't."

"What are you saying, Mike?"

"I love you." He replied, "You know, I do, Sweetheart." He looked down at the food, "You should eat, we can talk more about it later. I'm gonna go take a shower." He stood and started to go. I grabbed his paw and turned him back to face me, then kissed him. He reciprocated the kiss, pulling me up from my chair and picking me up.

I pulled my face away from his, "Have breakfast with me, we can take a shower after."

"You've already taken a-" Mike started to say before connecting the dots, "Oh."

 **Layla's POV**

"So, where do you want to go?" Johnny asked after he finished getting ready.

"We could go to New York to see Groundhog Day." I suggested in jest.

"Yeah, let me just go buy our last minute plane tickets, tickets to Monday night's show so you have time to get ready, and room reservations." He replied sarcastically, "Seriously, where do you want to go? We have to be out of here by noon."

"Let's go home." I answered, "You've got a song to compose and rework. I finished Nicole, Cinderella, whatever you want to call her's number, so you have to decide what you want to do with the lyrics I have for it. I think the next song is going to be either another one for Nicole or one between Taran and Nicole."

"Where would you place them?"

"Nicole's would be right after she meets Taran." I responded, "It would be after he saves her and she's coming up with the idea to save him and run off with him. The song between her and Taran would be after they've left. They've commandeered a ship and it's just the two of them. It's would be some type of training thing, he's teaching her how to not only be a pirate, but to pretend to be a dude, so that she's ready when they have a full crew."

"Have you considered doing both?"

I shrugged, "I have, but I worry about writing too many and having ones that feel extraneous."

"You are the only one I know who uses words like extraneous this early in the morning." Johnny commented.

"You're not much better." I responded.

"How so?"

"Shall I give an example?"

"Please." He replied intrigued.

"The Oscars." I told him, "You used words I didn't even know were in the English language when Suicide Squad won an Oscar."

"It didn't deserve a bloody Oscar." He retorted, "The film was shit. I don't care if it was for hair and makeup, it shouldn't be able to say it's an Oscar winning film. And you were the exact same way a few days ago when Dear Evan Hansen won six Tony's and Groundhog Day didn't win anything."

"I would have liked to see it win something." I replied with a shrug, "Dear Evan Hansen was good, but I don't think it was good enough to win six Tony's. I mean Best Orchestration? C'mon that should have gone to Great Comet or at least Bandstand. The Best Featured Role should have gone to Stephanie J. Block. And don't get me started on the Hello Dolly. Best revival, sure whatever, I don't care, but Best Costume Design should have gone to Anastasia."

"And you were getting after me for the Oscars?"

"I never said Dear Evan Hansen didn't deserve a Tony." I pointed out, "I just said that I didn't think it was good enough for six and there were other musicals that would have been better choices."

"We shouldn't have watched those with Miles." Johnny shook his head.

"We went to his Oscar screening for the food." I replied, "I wanted to see the Tony's even though I knew Dear Evan Hansen was going to sweep, I just didn't know by how much."

"The only reason I went is because of the food." He said, I looked at him in disbelief, "He made toutons, apple pie, sticky buns, pierogis… He had something for every nomination."

"He over did it out of boredom." I responded, "And somehow got Ash to help him." I added, then changed the topic back to the original subject, "Ready to go home?"

"What about Alex?"

"We've got work to do and I'm not going to let him step in the way of that." I answered, "And if he does bother us or get on my nerves, we'll take a break and go do something."

 **Miles' POV**

"Is he always-" Ash started annoyed.

"Late?" I asked blankly, "Yeah, I would recommend tell him to be here a few hours before the concert so that he actually arrives on time."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's Alex." I shrugged, "You're in for a lot of that shit." I added as I played with one with one of my drumsticks, "If he even shows up." I smirked shaking my head, "Hell, we could go to breakfast, see a movie or a show, and he still wouldn't be here."

Ash's face dropped, "You're kidding."

"I'm being completely serious."

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to leave." She replied, "But getting breakfast might not be a bad idea."

"Do you like donuts?"

"What's not to like about donuts?"

"If you want, I could go pick some up and maybe make a Starbucks run too." I offered, "We'll need some caffeine, sugar, and chocolate in our systems if we're going to deal with Alex."

"Why?"

"All of those things give you endorphins." I answered, "Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't kill their bandmates."

"Did you just quote Legally Blonde?" Ash asked in disbelief.

"No I took a quote and spun it to meet my needs." I responded, "I'm gonna need to go get the food, I'll be back." I got off my seat and headed out of the theatre.

 **Heather's POV**

"Why are you on my couch?" I asked Buster tiredly as I passed by to get my morning cup of tea. I should have stayed in bed, my head is throbbing. I would say that that's the last time I'll ever drink, but even I know that's a lie. The most I can say is next time I'll try to drink less, so I can actually remember what happened the night before. I don't really remember much of what happened last night. Although, Buster's on my couch, so I must be missing something.

"You told me I could stay here for the night." Buster answered, "It was too late to go home."

"Did anything happen last night?"

Buster looked stunned for a moment and then the look faded to a slightly more stoic one as he shook his head, "No, I took you back home, you went to bed, and then I fell asleep on your couch. Nothing happened, we barely even talked."

"Are you telling the truth?" I asked him, "Because I can't tell if you are or not."

"Mostly." He admitted.

"Okay." I nodded, "Do you want tea? And before you ask, no, I don't have coffee."

"You don't drink coffee." He responded, "Anything you have would be great."

"I only have Irish breakfast at the moment." I replied as I took a couple bags out of the glass jar I had the tea stored in, "I haven't had the time to pick up more. Usually, I'll have at least five or six different kinds to choose from."

"White, green, oolong, black…" Buster started to list off, "I can't think of any others."

"Pu-erh" I told him, "I usually have one of each type and then whatever tea I can find with hibiscus in it."

"Why hibiscus?" He asked confused.

I answered his question with a good humored one of my own, "Why not hibiscus?"

I don't know what it was, but despite the throbbing headache and the want to go back to bed, the morning person in me was still in a decent mood. Could it have been Buster? I don't know. Maybe it was just someone to interact with in the morning. Even with the hangover, I do admit it's nice not to be alone.

 **Ash's POV**

Even after Miles came back, there was still no sign of Alex. We sat down on the stage and opened the box of donuts, which looked like it was half way filled with Boston crème and then the other half was a hodge podge of glazed, jelly, coconut and chocolate, apple fritters, éclairs, and a few others that I couldn't tell what they were. When we had everything set out for the food, he took out two different drinks: an iced tea and some type of pink or red drink. I reached for the pinkish one, not knowing which one to pick, but he shook his head.

"No, this one is mine." Miles told me adamantly about the pinkish red drink, "Yours is the iced green tea."

"What is that?"

"A berry hibiscus refresher." He replied proudly and then said, "You didn't tell me what you wanted, but I remembered you liked green tea, so thought that'd be a good default. I didn't know if you drank coffee, and not everybody does, so thought I'd better go with something I knew you'd like. Speaking of liking things, do you have a favorite donut?"

I laughed, "No, but I can see you do." I picked up a Boston crème, as did he.

"Well, they are the best." He smirked.

I could see why girls fell all over him in the past. He was a good looking dude who was unashamed of the things he enjoyed, even if they were as silly as a pink drink and a donut. He could cook, sing, play the drums and guitar, and fix things. He had good taste in music and movies. I could probably go on about the things I liked about him, but I wasn't blind to his less desirable traits. Once in a while, I could see small glimpses of the guy he describe himself to be a long time ago, someone he regretted being. There was a very small part of him that I don't think he'll ever be completely rid of that would come out once in a while. It was something you could see in a gleam his eyes as he smirked or how and what he would say in a quick witted retort. You could see it at times when he would rehearse a song that he connected with. Thinking about it, even though I could tell there was a distinct difference between who he is as I know him and the guy he described himself to be, I still saw that little spark in him of the guy I didn't get to know in him all of the time and I enjoyed it. Miles was fun to be around.

"Why are you being so quiet?" Miles asked curiously.

I shook my head lightly, pulling myself from my thoughts, "Just a lot on my mind."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Maybe eventually." I answered, looking at him with at him with a small smile.

"Okay." Miles responded, "Just let me know."

"I will."


	29. Chapter 28: Mr Blue Sky

**AN: Hello Everyone! I may not have 101 dalmatians, but I do have 101 reviews, which is awesome. Thank you to all of you who review, favorite, and follow this story. You guys are the reason I continue this story and I never thought when I started it that it would have the following that it does. I love writing this story and hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.**

 **This chapter is on the longer side, it's 22 pages in word.**

 **The song used for the chapter title is Mr. Blue Sky by ELO, you will also see many other songs mentioned in this chapter.**

 **Alex is in this chapter, but there's going to be more of him as the chapters go chapter is a small taste of who he is at this point in the story.** **There's also something small for each of the main couples here. Well, one of them isn't so small, and one of them may not look like really anything at first glance, but there's more going on in the small scene than what you see.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mr. Blue Sky**

By the time Alex arrived we had finished breakfast and had had lunch. The dude has a phone and a watch and he still can't bother to arrive on time or even call when he doesn't. He was great when he wasn't talking, I had no complaints about him when it came to when we were actually rehearsing. He played the bass well and followed cues without problems. It was when Alex opened his mouth that he started to grate on my nerves, exactly as Miles had said he would. Miles handled him well though: tuned out most of the things he had said, and when he did, he was able to shut him up with only a few words. Everything was going pretty well until Layla and Johnny came back. A smirk came across Alex's face, which was a little unsettling to see, as his attention quickly settled and stayed on her. It was the look I could only equate to the look of someone who was about to fuck with another person's mind and thoroughly enjoy it. Layla just rolled her eyes at the look. The look on Johnny's face was more of one that said, 'really', one that basically mean to ask the rhetorical question of if Alex had nothing better to do than leer at his girlfriend. There was no glare or look of jealousy or anger coming from Johnny, no protective stance or measure taken other than a look over to Layla. It was like the three of them were having their own silent conversation. The silence was finally broken by Alex.

"You look good, Layla." Alex complimented, "I'd almost consider taking you back."

Layla shook her head as she and Johnny started to over to the stairs, and then she replied stoically, "You're wasting your breath, Alex."

Alex looked at her intrigued, "I really doubt you've changed that much. You were always pretty easy to get with flattery."

"No, you're right." She agreed. Johnny, Miles and I looked at her completely lost and confused at her statement. Her words and the fact that she agreed with him made no sense. She gave Johnny a look, he nodded and leaned against the wall, with his arms folded across his chest. Still he held no look of anger or envy upon his face, he trusted Layla immeasurably. Layla in turn faced Alex. "I haven't changed." She stated, and then added pointedly, "I've just realized I deserve better."

"You're so sure of yourself." Alex replied condescendingly, "It's almost attractive."

"Did you believe that when you said it?" Layla asked, "Cause it almost sounded convincing. You've never found confidence or independence attractive, especially since you need to be in control of everything from where you go out to music you listen to while you're in the car and who drives to what and how much your date eats while their out and god forbid if you ever lose that control because you'd blow your fucking top. You can't deny it either cause Miles and I have both seen it. After almost two years and I'm surprised I even lasted that long cause I don't know anyone else who'd put up with your shit. You may talk a good game, but you and I know what truly lies behind your façade and the only way you're ever gonna get a girl to stay with you after they see who you really are is through guilt and manipulation cause that's the only way you managed to convince me to stay as long as I did and I refuse to ever be controlled and treated like that ever again." She looked back at Johnny and he pushed himself off from the wall and the started to head up the stairs, but they stopped abruptly, she looked back at Alex one last time and said, "I'd watch what you say around here, Alex. There probably won't be too many around here who agree with you if you don't and who wouldn't turn a blind eye if something happened to you." She and Johnny headed up the stairs.

"Okay, how about we get back to that set?" Miles suggested awkwardly after a few moments.

 **Layla's POV**

"That's not quite how I was expecting things to go." Johnny commented as we headed into our rehearsal.

"Oh, I was." I responded, "Well not originally, but it was one of the two I was considering. Either he'd be really tame or a complete dick, that was tame. Like tame for him would be like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day or Scrooged before he becomes a better person."

"I will never understand how they got a national holiday."

"I don't think we'll ever know."

"How do you think a conversation like that starts?" Johnny asked curiously.

I thought about it for a moment and then answered, "Probably something like 'I have magical powers and can predict the weather and I should be given my own holiday'. If you look at it, it's the same family predicting the weather. The job's passed down from father to son."

"That's true." Johnny nodded, and then asked, "Wait, if Alex is like an 80's Bill Murray character when he's tame, who's he when-"

"Prequels Anakin Skywalker, specifically Revenge of the Sith Anakin." I responded with the first character who came to mind.

He snorted and suppressed a laugh, "Out of all of the guys you could have chosen, you chose Mr. 'I hate sand'?"

"My choices were between him and Miles, who wasn't much better at the time." I laughed, "Alex was bad, but Miles was just as bad, but in a different way. I think he's slept with almost half the single girls in L.A., he had been working his way through before he changed. If you had a black light in your apartment, everywhere except for the kitchen would probably look like a Jackson Pollock painting."

Johnny's expression contoured into one of disgust.

"Hey, you could always move in with me." I offered half-jokingly.

"Yeah?" Johnny responded, "And what would Ash do? I don't think she'd want to live with us."

"She could always move in with Miles." I suggested.

"Let's wait and see what happens."

"That wasn't a no." I replied with a small smile, "Not a yes, but definitely not a no."

"It's a not yet."

"I can work with that." I told him, "Especially since we're already living together here. We could make it more of a permanent thing."

"I think we will eventually." Johnny responded, and then changed the subject, "Miles and I are gonna grab dinner, do you want to come with us?"

"No, I'm gonna work on the next song." I answered, "I've got the beginning of it and it somehow turned into a duet."

"What do you mean it somehow turned into a duet?" He asked confused, "I thought you were just going to have Nicole sing it."

I shrugged nonchalantly, "So did I, but Taran kept popping up and he had a lot to say about that moment."

"I'm sure that was an interesting conversation." Johnny responded unfazed by the notion of me talking to a fictional character.

"It was actually." I told him, "At that moment, he questioned why he saved her and about not wanting to go to the gallows." I explained, and then told him, "I'm still stunned that none of this bothers you and that you don't think I'm crazy."

"I think it's more imaginative than crazy." He responded, "I've also known you long enough not to think anything of it. I will say though, I never questioned why I saved you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause you slightly based him off of me." Johnny pointed out, "And Tristian after Miles. Nigel, I'm guessing is based off of Alex."

"Is it that apparent?"

"For me it is, but I'm also helping you write it." He answered, "We're not actually gonna pull a Lin Manuel Miranda and be in this thing too are we?"

"I wasn't, but if you want to, be my guest."

"No, I think I'm good." Johnny shot down the idea, "You know Buster will want us to audition when this is all said and done."

There was no question in any of what Johnny said, it was a given fact. Buster would want us to audition after we had finished writing it and had started auditions. There was really no way around it, other than to explain that it was a conflict of interest and our efforts were best suited on other tasks to help the musical run smoothly than actually being in the show. It would work best if we were working behind the scenes than performing.

"I'll handle Buster when the time comes."

Johnny nodded in agreement and then asked, "So what have you got for the next song?"

I started play the piano a bit. I didn't have anything other than the lyrics for the beginning of the next song, but I thought it'd be fun to see if he was able to catch the song that I was playing. Did have anything to do with the song? Not really, I was listening to it when I started writing the song, but that was about it.

Johnny caught on, alright, pretty quickly, and started to sing along. When we finished the song, he commented, "You don't think I'd catch on to 'Mr. Blue Sky'? You love that song." He started playing the piano, "That'd be like saying that this was the melody for the last song."

It took me until it got to the chorus that I realized that he was playing 'You Make My Dreams' by Hall and Oates. I started to sing along to the song.

"You know that song pretty well." Johnny laughed.

"Says the guy who just played the song by ear." I teased.

"You put the song on a loop for a day." He pointed out, "It wasn't hard to pick up after that."

"Well I can definitely say this isn't the melody for the next song." I started to play another song.

"That's 'Don't Stop Believing'." Johnny remarked with a smile shaking his head, "I'm starting to think we have a theme going here."

"Maybe." I responded, "You remember the words?"

"I might." He teased and started to sing along to the song.

"Aren't you two supposed to be working?"

We didn't have to turn around to know it was Miles standing in the doorway. I turned around to face him, and answered, "Can't you tell we are?"

"No." Miles responded deadpanned, and then asked Johnny, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." Johnny nodded and then stood up. He looked down at me, "You sure you're alright here?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied, "I'm gonna work on this new song. There's too many problems with the current version I have."

"You might want to think about revising the Taran's part." Johnny suggested.

"His questioning's gonna turn into spoken lines before his section of the song." I told him before he and Miles headed out. I turned back to the piano and pulled up the song lyrics that I had sent to my phone from Johnny's on the way back, so that I could fix them. I read through them again, "Or I could just start over." I told myself and deleted the lyrics I currently had. I sat and looked at the blank screen and after a few moments started to type up new lyrics for the song. Hopefully, these would work better than the ones I had.

"How's the musical coming?" I could hear Meena ask as she came in.

I turned around on the bench to face her and answered, "Well, we've got a flowing plot, which has contributed to most of the book and we're still trying to work out the songs. I'm currently working on the lyrics for the fourth song, which are being rewritten because the old ones didn't feel right and these I'm still not sure on."

"Can I hear it?" Meena asked curiously.

"Well, I don't have the full song or even the melody for it." I responded, "When it comes to the song, I've been writing the lyrics and Johnny's been doing the melodies. Maybe I could put a generic melody as a placeholder, so you could hear the lyrics. It'd be nice to have another ear."

"Uh, yeah." Meena agreed, "I'd love to hear it."

I started to play, " _All my life I've been searching_

 _For somewhere to belong,_

 _And no matter which way I turn_

 _Or how much I try to change_

 _It still feels wrong._

 _Looking into your eyes_

 _And you looking back into mine,_

 _There's something about you_

 _That sets thoughts into motion_

 _In the back of my mind._

 _You're a pirate, a scoundrel, a knave_

 _You're everything I should condemn and want to despise_

 _But then I look into your eyes."_

"I really like that." Meena complimented after I finished.

"Thanks." I responded, "This is the third rewrite for the beginning on this song. The first lyrics were good, but they accidentally got deleted because I was half asleep and wasn't pay attention and forgot to save them. The second lyrics weren't good, the concept was still there, but the song was completely gone. These, it feels like the song is more there than it was, but the concept is wavering. It's like it's not fully formed anymore."

"Maybe I could help."

"I'd like that."

"Awesome." Meena responded excitedly, "So what's this scene about?"

 **Miles' POV**

"Sean and Mike are going to screw us out of all of our money tomorrow." I told Johnny after the waitress took our order.

"I don't have enough left of my last few paychecks for them to try." He replied, "I have enough for food and any other necessities, but I don't think I'm gonna actually play poker with you guys."

"Disneyland set you back that much?" I asked slightly surprised. I know I shouldn't have been, he only went in for a day, but seriously, it wouldn't have taken much of the paycheck we were given.

Johnny shook his head, "No, I mean it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't what I spent all of it on." He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket, "I picked this up a few days ago, I've been waiting for it to come in for a week."

"That can't be what I think it is." I commented shocked as I lifted the box from his hands and opened it, it was a ring with some kind of multicolored stone. "Oh, for a second I thought it was an engagement ring."

Johnny smirked at my comment, "It is one."

"But it isn't a diamond."

"It's not." He affirmed, "It's an Australian opal."

"You got this before Alex came back." I replied still stunned at the thought of the two of them getting married. I knew it would possibly happen eventually, but this, this didn't seem real.

"He doesn't factor into any of this, but yeah, I did." He confirmed, slightly put off at the mention of Alex. Not out of jealousy, but out of the knowledge of who Alex was. Alexander Morrison was the type of guy, even at my very worst I was still not as bad he still is. I've always been honest what and who I am and I've always expected the same from them. I always told the girls that they were one of the many I had been seeing or even sleeping with, they just chose to believe that they could change me or they wanted a one and done thing, I didn't care either way. Alex didn't pay any girl the same courtesy I did. Not only did he date multiple girls without their knowledge, he domineered their lives. Layla happened to be the longest relationship he had been in. He cheated on her more times than I can count, everything that ranged from drunkenly making out with a girl to one night stands. He took advantage of her good nature and was able to gain as much control of her life as he could until Buster talked to her about some of the things he had been doing. I had always kept out of it, Layla and I weren't friends when she was dating Alex. We were now and if Alex did ever try anything I would do anything I could to help her. I'd of course be behind Johnny, who'd let Layla do her own thing before he stepped in.

I looked down at the ring again, "Dude, you're gonna propose." I stated, still in disbelief as I closed the ring box and handed it back to him.

"I am." Johnny nodded in affirmation as he put the box back into his pocket.

"When?"

"I haven't quite planned that part out yet." He responded, "I just got the ring, I haven't fully thought of how I'd do it."

"Why didn't you just do it while you were in Disneyland?" I asked, "Tons of animals propose there every day."

"I'm not sure if I want to do anything too over the top or flashy." Johnny answered, "I thought it might be too soon and spur of the moment."

"It's not like she would have said no." I responded, "So do you have ideas?"

"I've had tons, but I'd need the time to put them together."

"Like what?"

"I've thought about doing a Halloween scavenger hunt in October." He answered, "Get the rest of you guys in on it and try to go over as much of the city as we can."

"If we could get Ash and Meena in on it, we could do a lot with that idea or we could get Buster and leave them out of it, so they could do the scavenger hunt with her. The less of us know, the harder it would be for her to figure it out. Although, it's hard to say if Ash or Meena would say anything about it, they might not. Heather would probably have some ideas and connections that you could take advantage of."

The waitress brought our food, we thanked her, and then she left.

"Dude, you have to do this." I urged, "This is awesome."

"It's not gonna be easy." He responded, "Layla's gonna know something's up."

"What if the scavenger hunt was the diversion?" I suggested.

"What?" Johnny asked confused.

I started to explain my idea

 **Layla's POV**

"Any idea how to move on with the song after that?" I asked Meena.

"Not really." She replied, "Can we try Taran's lines again?"

"Why couldn't I just have let you die? That's what anyone else in my position would have done. No, I had to be chivalrous, which I certainly did not have time for today." I read the lines again.

"Okay, so he's talking to himself." Meena gathered, "And she can't hear any of this because time is frozen for her."

"Exactly." I nodded, "But how do I move from that to singing?"

"How would Johnny move from saying that to singing?" She questioned in return.

"He wouldn't say it to begin with." I answered, "He's not the type to say something like that, it wouldn't matter to him if something benefited him or not."

"Then maybe it's the lines that are the problem." Meena responded with the same thing Johnny had been saying. He had been contesting the lines as soon as the words had been typed.

"Johnny said the same thing." I told her, "He said he'd never say anything like that if he had saved someone. He's who Taran is based on, I probably should have listened to him."

"Are Taran's thoughts needed for the scene?"

"No."

"Is he a character you really see singing?"

"No, he's a little like Flynn Rider in that regard."

"Then maybe it's better to wait for him to sing when there's a reason for him to and make the song about Nicole."

"I could make time only frozen for him and have the song be about how she's going to use him to leave the prince."

"Don't you think that'll make her slightly less likeable?"

I turned away from my notes on the song to face Meena and responded, "Not really, I find it resourceful, but who am I to judge."

"You would use someone else to get your own way?"

I nodded, "I would. Wouldn't think twice either."

"That's terrible."

"Sometimes that's how you get by." I responded plainly. The words received a skeptical look from Meena, but nothing else was said on the matter. She didn't stay too long after that. Her mom always worried if she had stayed out too late. I stayed in the rehearsal room playing around on the piano. I knew I should have been working, but there wasn't anything coming to mind except songs I already knew.

"What's that from?" I heard Mr. Maddox ask as he came in.

"Oh, it's a song from Tangled." I responded stopping, "It plays during the end credits."

"What's Tangled?" He asked confused.

"It's Disney's version of Rapunzel." I answered, and changed the subject, "What's up?"

I didn't mean to be abrupt, but I didn't get a lot of visits from Johnny's dad often. Usually when I saw him, I was with Johnny. He knew Johnny was out, so for him to be here, he would have actually wanted to seek me out.

Mr. Maddox responded to my question with one of his own, "What do you know about the Morrison kid?"

There it was. He was suspicious of Alex, as he should be, and wanted to scope me out for information. I was expecting to be questioned about him by either him or Sean at some point while Alex was still at the theatre.

"I know everything about Alex." I answered honestly, "What do you wanna know?"

"What's a kid who's been in and out juvie since he was twelve doing here?" He asked stoically. My jaw almost practically hit the floor. How in the hell did he know that? I can't even fathom how he would know that on his own. Buster hasn't been in all day and I didn't say anything to anyone about that. "You think Heather's the only one who looks into who she hires? I looked into that kid years ago to join my gang. He was recommended to me by my driver at the time. I trusted the guy, so I looked into the kid's background. He was too recognizable to be used for the job we needed him for."

"How did you-" I started to ask, but stopped that wasn't quite the question I wanted to ask. I tried to start again, "Where did you-" That question wasn't quite right either, so I just settled on, "What?"

"I used to be a cop." He told me, "Long time ago, I resigned shortly after Johnny was born. When I started my gang, I used many of the tactics I had learned to screen possible applicants."

"And the files?"

"I worked in law enforcement for almost ten years." He stated, "I know their systems and the backdoors to get to them."

"That's terrible." I responded, "You shouldn't-"

"I'm an ex-felon." Mr. Maddox pointed out, "How I screened animals should be the least of your worries, especially when I come to you saying that the kid who is now working with your friends had too many criminal offenses for me to hire him."

I looked down and remained silent, he was right. There was nothing for me to say against him on that matter.

"Does Heather know about him?

"I don't know." I replied, "I haven't told her about him, or at least not that I remember, and I don't know if Buster knows that Alex is working here again and if he's told Heather about him. Although they weren't really speaking to each other last I saw them, so I doubt it."

 **Heather's POV**

"And that's why Eddie will only swim in a pool." I finished telling an old story to Buster, who was laughing his head off, "He blamed the whole incident on the ocean and not the fact he was wearing a speedo that was probably too big for him on a windy day and refused to do anything else."

"You didn't go on the beach-" Buster started to say as he shifted in his sea

"No, I stayed on the boardwalk." I told him, "I came across Eddie right after the incident. His cousin filled me in."

"Were you shopping?"

"No, there was a psychic on the beach and I got my tarot cards read as well as my palm."

"Those things are such a waste of money." Buster admonished.

"She told me that I would come into a vast wealth that I wouldn't know what to do with, which if she was familiar with who I was that wouldn't be too much of a stretch to guess, so I disregarded that 'premonition'. She went on to say that I would move out here on my own permanently due to a career in the theatre and long on again off again relationship with an impulsive annoying animal who was just as passionate as I was about the theatre, however had very little talent in it himself." I looked at him pointedly.

"I am not annoying." He rebuffed.

"You're not everyone's cup of tea though." I responded, "I find it funny that that's the description you have a problem with though and not the 'little talent' or 'on again off again' parts."

"I'm not a performer, so in that way if the psychic were speaking of me, she would be right." Buster reasoned, "I have very little talent in that regard. As for the relationship, that is all on you. If you want to change it go ahead, it's not my fault you're so stubborn."

"That's really what you want to go with here?" I asked him. I couldn't describe how I felt by his quip. I was more amused than angry that he actually had the gall to say it.

Upon seeing that I wasn't upset with him, but interested in where he was going to go after his brash reasoning of our relationship being the way it was solely on me being stubborn. I would at least admit that both of us were fault for the arguments we've had and why we broke up."

"Yes, you're stubborn and you like taking things at your own pace and I'm impulsive and like to do things as soon as I think of them."

I shrugged, "Seems we're at an impasse."

There wasn't really anything we could do to change nor would I want to change Buster. I love him for who he is, every fast moving, fast talking bit of him. He was a challenge, a very rewarding one from time to time too. Yes, there were things about his impulsive nature that annoyed the hell out of me and that could make my job harder than it had to be, but it was beneficial for me to learn to work with it.

"No, we're not." Buster responded, "I've known you were like that when we started to work together, you've always been able to take every concept I had and turn it into something tangible and keep me grounded when I need to be. We might not always agree on how we go about things, but I value your opinion more than anyone else's. You're the first to tell me when I'm not thinking things through and stop me when you think I'm about to do something foolish. You don't tell me what I hear or go along with whatever I want to do. You're honest and will fight me on every decision until I have an actual plan. I wouldn't be where I am right now without you and I know I'll never be able to fully thank you for that."

"I didn't do it for a thank you." I told him, "I did it because I love you."

"Then it doesn't seem like we're at much of an impasse then." Buster replied, "I'm in love with you and you feel the same for me, so why continue to fight it?"

"We work together and spend most of our time arguing." I answered without missing a beat, "If our professional relationship is a problem, I don't see how much better a romantic relationship would work out. Also does it make sense to move this quickly into a relationship?"

"Give me one date." Buster proposed, "One date to try to change your mind. I'll set everything up and plan it all out."

"And what happens if it doesn't work out?"

"You get to decide what happens from there," He responded, "But I implore you to give me a chance to prove you wrong before you decide."

"Okay." I agreed, "When?"

"I'll let you know."

 **Miles' POV**

After Johnny and I finished dinner, I headed home. Johnny offered to drop me off, but I thought it would have been counterproductive for him since he was going in the opposite direction back to the theatre. I did have the ring though. I was supposed to hold on to until Halloween, so Layla wouldn't find it. We had everything figured out. Ash and I would plan out the scavenger hunt and arrange everything, so that we can distract Layla from the proposal that Johnny was supposed put together. Ash was the only one I was supposed to tell what was actually happening, everyone else would find out when Layla did, well after she did maybe. It would depend on how we set it up.

I had one full month to work out the details. In September, I would start setting everything into motion with Ash, and then in October, we would make sure everything was finalized and ready to go. This was going to be awesome and so easy to do, the only difficult thing would be to convince Heather to put on the scavenger hunt without her knowing what this was really for. I know it sounds bizarre that she wasn't going to be included in the secret, given that it's her theatre, but the way I see it is this can actually be very good for the theatre if she didn't. This way we could open the scavenger hunt to the public and the less Layla would suspect anything. If we opened it to the public, it would bring a lot of business to the theatre and keep us in mind.

Did I completely take over Johnny's idea? Yes, yes I did and I don't feel bad about it either. I'm going to have a blast with it too. It's not like Johnny won't think of others. He has three more months to think of something else. It's not like I stole the idea of having a scavenger hunt and am going to use it for my own means. I just took it off his hands, so he could do something on his own too. That and I really wanted to plan out a scavenger hunt. Could I have done it on my own without it tying into anything? Sure, but what would be the point? I had a motive, a time constraint, and complete control of everything, this was going to be awesome.

When I got inside, I texted Ash to see if she was interested in hanging out and having dessert, which she agreed to. I put one of my records on out of boredom, .38 Special's Special Forces was usually my go to solution for boredom. Its first song, Caught Up In You, was so catchy that it always put me in a good mood whenever I heard it. The other thing that got me in a good mood more recently just started to knock at my door. I opened the door and let Ash in.

"So, hanging out isn't the only reason I invited you over." I admitted as I closed the door. She looked at me perplexed, so I continued, "I need your help with something."

"Okay?" She responded still confused. We sat down at the island and I started to explain to her what was going on.

 **Johnny's POV**

When I got back to the theatre, Layla was in our room sitting on the bed with a notebook in her hands writing. She had her headphones in and her iPod playing so loud that I could hear 'On a Lonely Night' by Rocket to the Moon playing even though I was all the way by the door. She hadn't even noticed I was back, which was fine, she was happy as she was. She was also more focused than I had seen her in a while and she was enjoying it, which was nice to see. I know it was the song she was listening to that she was enjoying, but it was nice to see her enjoying writing again. As I set down my stuff, I found myself quietly singing along with the song, which she herself had been doing as she written down a few lyrics and erasing others.

After a couple of songs, she noticed I was in the room. I had already changed and had been I the room for a while on my laptop at the desk by the window editing a scene.

"When did you get back?" Layla asked happily.

I looked up from my laptop and shrugged, "A while ago, you looked content working, so I did my own thing. How's the song going?"

"I took out Taran's part of the song completely, which helped it, I think." She answered, "Ideas for the song came easier at least. It's far from finished, but it's a step in the right direction."

"I told you it didn't fit."

"No, you said that the spoken lines weren't right."

"The thing is he knows saving her would lead him to the gallows." I responded, "He doesn't have to sing about it. He didn't make a mistake saving her and he knows that. He still has a moral code."

"Which is apparently more than she has because her whole song is her putting together that she could use him to leave."

"Good." I nodded, "Cinderella's been portrayed as a goody two shoes for too long and it fits with the rest of the character we've written for her in the story."

"I've also been thinking what if Taran didn't sing for most of the musical?" Layla suggested, "He has his moments here and there-"

"What if the more his character develops, the more he sings?" I offered my own idea, "At first he doesn't at all, and then as we get to know him more, he has parts in group numbers, which would eventually lead to a duet."

"That might work." She agreed as she mulled over the idea.


	30. Chapter 29: Dead Man's Party

**AN: Hello everyone. This is a short chapter, but I think you all will enjoy it, especially those who like Ash and Miles.**

 **The chapter is titled after Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo.**

 **To, the anonymous guest who has reviewed chapters 3, 4, 8, 10, and 11, thank you for the reviews. According to what I can find, P!NK's music genres are pop, pop rock, rock, and contemporary R &B. She doesn't seem to have one set genre. To answer your question about Johnny's accent, I don't know if it is supposed to be Welsh or English, I have seen fanfiction writers mostly describe it as English. The reason I say that Johnny has a Welsh accent is because Taron Egerton is Welsh. I like your idea of having a babysitting scene with Rosita and Norman's kids, I might do another one in the future.**

 **Thank you everyone for your favorites, follows, and reviews.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading everyone.**

 **Chapter Twenty-Nine: Dead Man's Party**

 **Ash's POV**

"You want to do what?" I responded in disbelief, "There's no way that Heather's gonna go for that. Doing Disneyland or Universal maybe, but both? Have you lost it?"

"Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the morning before the park opens to the public, if we can manage it, and do a Disney after Dark event."

"On Halloween?" I retorted.

"We'll see what Heather can finagle." Miles shrugged, and then added, "And have a backup plan just in case."

"And if she doesn't go for it at all?"

"It's an event that'll divert Buster's attention from the musical, I think she'd be more than happy to agree to it if it gets him out of her fur as far as that's concerned."

"In the off chance that she does, does Johnny have another idea?" I asked him plainly.

"I think so." He responded, "It would work in everyone's favor if we can make this work."

"Alright." I agreed. What was else was I supposed to say to that? He was right, it would work out best for everyone if Heather did agree to have the scavenger hunt. Then, I thought of something else, "You're really going to make people go up to Universal and then have them flip around and drive an hour to Disneyland?"

Miles shook his head, "No, there'll be stops in between. They'd start at the theatre, and then the first clue would lead them to the Wizarding World in Universal."

"Any idea where?"

"If Heather can manage it, I think it would be a good idea have the clue be at Three Broomsticks and find a way to get breakfast for everyone."

"Okay, and your back up if she can't?"

"Olivanders or Hogshead." Miles responded, "Not every team has to have the same clue."

"No, it just makes our jobs a lot easier." I retorted sarcastically, "Okay, where do they go after that?"

"Honeydukes." He answered without missing a beat.

"Okay, where do they go next?" I asked as I recorded the other places onto a piece of paper.

"Zonko's." Miles responded, "And then that clue would take them out of Universal, if they choose to. They would have as much time as Heather can get, like an hour or two maybe, to enjoy the park in the morning, if she can get it."

"Okay where do they go after Universal?"

"I don't know." He sighed, "I would suggest Madame Tussaud's, but those wax sculptures freak out Layla."

"Do you remember that day where Johnny and Layla completely ditched rehearsal months ago?" I asked him, "Layla was supposed to help Johnny learn a song for the show, but ended up taking him around LA."

"Yeah." He replied, not really getting why I brought it up. "What of it?"

"Do you know where they went?"

"Echo Park." He answered.

"There's another place for the scavenger hunt." I told him as I wrote it down on the paper, "What else is around here?"

"Griffith Observatory." He answered, "The Santa Monica Pier, Pacific Park…"

"There are escape rooms near Anaheim, what if they have to work their way through one of those to get the Disneyland clue?" I suggested.

"I love it." Miles agreed excitedly and I wrote down the suggestion.

"We'll have to do some research into some of these places and you're going to have to talk to Johnny about letting Heather in on everything."

Miles nodded and agreed to talk to Johnny.

"Now where are we going in Disneyland?"

"We're going to have to talk to Johnny about that." Miles responded, "We can map out the rest of the locations though, so we have something to present Heather."

It took a few hours, but we were able to put together all of the locations for the scavenger hunt. Not only that we were able to make the route different enough, so that everyone would have a slightly different experience.

"Okay, so let's go through this one more time so we have it straight for when we talk to Heather." I told Miles as I looked over the list again, "We start out at the theatre. The rules are explained to everyone in the auditorium and then a clue is handed to each team of three by someone who works at the theatre, most likely Buster or Heather, but it can be anyone."

"The first clue leads everyone to Three Broomsticks." Miles responded, "Everyone gets breakfast and then everyone gets another clue from someone else who works for the theatre, which could be really anyone, and that clue will either lead them to Ollivander's, Dervish and Banges, or Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. Different parts of each store will lead you to the next clue. So, if you show interest in the wand replicas at Ollivander's, it'll lead you to Zonko's, but if you show interest in the original wands, you'll be lead to Honeydukes."

"If you go to Dervish and Banges and show an interest in the quidditch gear, you'll be lead to Honeydukes; whereas, if you're interested in the magical items, you'll be lead to Zonko's."

"At Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, wizarding robes lead you to Honeydukes and wizarding supplies lead you to Zonko's.

"If you go to Zonko's, the next clue will lead you to Baxter Street Stairs and that leads you to Carroll Avenue."

"If you go Honeydukes, the clue leads you the Wildflower Trail, and then that leads you to Origami Vinyl."

"Both Carroll Avenue and Origami Vinyl lead you to Samuel Oschin Planetarium."

"Depending on which show you go to, you get a different location at the Santa Monica Pier." Miles said, "You have to watch the whole show to get the clue and depending on what time the show is, you're either lead to the arcade at the Santa Monica Pier or the carousel."

"Both clues lead you to a different escape room in Anaheim." I responded, looking at the list again, "The Arcade leads to the Sherlock's Study escape room and the carousel leads to Escape the Hydeout."

"Both lead to Disneyland, but to different rides." Miles added, "Sherlock's Study leads to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Escape the Hydeout leads to The Haunted Mansion. Both of those lead to The Plaza Inn."

"So what's Johnny going to do?" I asked.

"Don't know, don't care." Miles responded, "I'll call him tomorrow before we talk to Heather though. Think we're ready to present this to Heather?"

"Well, we've got all of the locations in order, we should probably map it out." I answered, "It may look nice on paper, but it could look insane on a map." I pulled up Google Maps and mapped it out, "Well, it doesn't look that insane. It's almost a straight shot."

"Except for the stuff around Griffith Observatory and the two different parks." Miles pointed out, "But that's their problem."

"Okay, cool." I responded, "I'll print them out for tomorrow. Should we put together some of the clues or something?"

"Sure, if you want." Miles agreed as he switched the record from one of Meatloaf's albums to a Whitesnake album. That made me think back to a conversation we had about how he dated girls. He's played .38 Special, Yazoo, Meatloaf, and now Whitesnake.

"Miles, what's going on?" I asked confused.

"Well, I'd like to think we're putting together a scavenger hunt to help Johnny, so he can propose to Layla." Miles responded sarcastically with a smile, "What do you think's going on?"

"I meant with the music." I told him, "You said if you were to-"

"Yeah, if I was the guy I used to be and looking to get laid, yeah doing this and a couple of things would be my route." Miles replied, "If I were to ask you out now, I'd just ask you out on an actual date. I'd put a lot of effort into going out with you because I know if I messed it up I would have missed my chance with one out the most amazing girls I've ever met, a girl who hasn't left my mind since I first saw her. Ash, I wouldn't do any of the crap that I did with those girls with you, our friendship means more to me than that and if I was going to risk that then I would make a much grander gesture, something I knew you would enjoy." He pulled out two tickets from his pocket, "Like asking you to go to a Foreigner and Cheap Trick concert week after next, telling you that I know a really good Vietnamese restaurant where we could get dinner beforehand, and saying that you shouldn't feel obligated or awkward if you just want to be friends, I'm cool with that too. I'm just suggesting we could give something more a try."

It took a few moments, but I responded, "So, what times the concert?"

"Seven."

"Sounds like fun."

"Great." Miles replied, and then quickly changed the subject back to the scavenger hunt, "We should get back to this, so I have enough to put together a presentation before tomorrow morning. We should also come up with a kid friendly option as well."

"So, we're going to have three options?"

"Three, maybe four." Miles answered, "Depends if we structure it the same way we did the regular one."

"Where were you thinking?"

"Legoland, Natural History Museum, California Science Center, Descanso Gardens, El Capitan Theatre, Grand Park, Last Bookstore, The Getty Center, Disneyland…"

"Okay, I'm going to start looking at these so we can put a possible route together, you start on the presentation." I instructed.

 **Buster's POV**

How do you change someone's mind in one date? Did I just volunteer myself for the impossible? This can't be that hard, can it? Maybe I'm just stressing myself over nothing. Well, it's not nothing. It's Heather agreeing to go on a date, which is a step in the right direction. I have complete control of the situation and I just need to think of what to do and how to go about it. It doesn't have to be now, but I don't want to wait too long either. What would be too long though? It's August, so something in December or January would probably be too far off. November is a bit of a stretch, but the beginning of November isn't.

"Okay, I have my date." I said to myself, "I just need to figure out what to do with it."

I headed into my apartment in the theatre and pulled out my laptop to look for events in the state or things to do in November. I kept it state wide because I didn't know if I really wanted to stay in LA. I had one date, it had to be perfect. Was there anything to do in November? I mean I could take the easy route and get tickets to see a show, but we already work in a theatre. Do I really want to take her out on a date to see someone else do what we do for a living? Okay, I would, but not if I wanted to make an impression.

Would it be cheap if I did something for free? Taking Heather out was almost a double edged sword in a way. She's my boss and the one who pays me. So if I paid, would it be like she was paying for the date? If I don't pay, it'd be rude since I offered to take her out. Or maybe I'm just being ridiculous about this whole thing. Wait, why am I going so overboard with this? I have an annual pass to Disneyland, I could take her there, as well as schedule a tour and make reservations at Blue Bayou. I just have to make sure she has one too, so I can see if I need to buy her ticket.


	31. Chapter 30: Take Me Home Tonight

**AN: Hey everyone. I know I've been gone for a while and I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Between work, vacation, and a cross country move, I've been a bit busy. I hope you guys are still in the mood for Halloween cause I've got at least one more Halloween chapter to go. I promise I haven't stopped writing the story.**

 **I will stress this one more time, if you do not know what animal Layla or any of the other main characters are please read my authors notes, especially the one before chapter 14 if you do not know what Layla, Miles, and Heather are. I will post all of the main and reoccurring OCs one more time here, but then I will not answer the question again.**

 **Layla - Gorilla**

 **Miles - Porcupine**

 **Heather - Koala**

 **Sasha - Mouse, specifically the white mouse in the film.**

 **Sean - Raccoon**

 **Stevie - Raccoon**

 **Joey DeMarco - Gorilla**

 **Alex - Gorilla**

 **Now that that has been addressed, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

 **This chapter was titled after the song Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money.**

 **Thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter Thirty: Take Me Home Tonight**

 **Miles' POV**

The weeks passed, and before we knew it, we were approaching on Halloween. All of the plans were all set and everyone was involved in some way. Heather took care of all of the extensive paperwork and minute details while Buster took care of all the imaginative components. The only thing that changed from the development stage to planning was the kid's scavenger hunt, which was changed into a massive trick-or-treating event that had been headed by Rosita. Lilac Terrance Park would be turned into Halloweentown overnight for children to enjoy during the day, and if they weren't too exhausted, they could enjoy Disneyland that night. Everyone had been assigned to either work the scavenger hunt or the park. None of us were doing both, but when our shifts were over, we were able to enjoy the event we didn't work on.

"So which Halloweentown did you guys end up turning the park into?" I asked Layla as we headed into the theatre. We had ran into each other halfway and decided to walk together the rest of the way.

"The one from the Disney Channel movie." She answered, "It's more loosely inspired though, we thought we'd have a little more creative freedom with that one instead of doing it based on Nightmare Before Christmas, not that we don't have references to it though."

"Johnny working there with you?" I asked her, even though I already knew the answer was no. She didn't know I already knew and was aware of the specific reason why.

"He has a late night shift working the scavenger hunt." She responded, before looking down at her watch and then looking back up at me, "You're late to meet Ash."

"I know." I nodded, "I don't think she'll mind too much though."

"Seeing as you're late every time you have to meet her, I'm sure she's very used to it." Layla shook her head, "I have to get going though, Uncle Joey's here today."

"Oh yeah, you might want to save Johnny." I laughed. Mr. DeMarco wasn't too fond of Johnny, even though he had nothing against him personally, he just hadn't warmed up to him dating Layla. He seemed to dislike him less than Alex though.

Unbeknownst to Layla, she had found herself unwillingly in the middle of a love triangle. She had Johnny on one side, who loved her and was days away from proposing, and Alex on the other, who was trying to win her back because he didn't like that someone else had her and that she had absolutely no interest in him. Mr. DeMarco, Mr. Maddox, Buster, Johnny, and I all noticed what had been happened over the past several weeks. Layla had been so busy working that she hadn't had any time to step away for a moment and take in everything happening around her. She didn't know that Sasha and Mike were getting married in December or that Ash and I were dating. She had no idea that Heather agreed to go out with Buster again or that we had a new official member of the group in our midst, a raccoon pastry chef named Stevie, who was starting to turn the head of another in our small circle of trust. Our outlandish and brash Sean had finally found someone to silence him, not that he had found the courage to speak to her yet. It wasn't surprising that she had missed so much, Layla had always lost her sense of reality when she was in the middle of a project.

"He can manage on his own." Layla replied smiling, "Joey's a big softy."

"Yeah, that's the first thing I think when I come face to face with your uncle." I retorted sarcastically.

"You don't have a problem with Johnny's dad." She remarked.

"No, you're right I don't." I agreed, "I don't find him intimating, he talks more."

"None of the DeMarcos have ever been very social." Buster commented joining us, "Layla gets her outspokenness and talkative nature from her father's side of the family." He looked over to Layla, "Johnny's in rehearsal room two, if you want to see him before he leaves."

"Thanks." Layla told Buster and ran off to go meet Johnny.

Once she was out of earshot, Buster told me, "Everything's all set up with Disney for the proposal, they just need to work out the final arrangements."

"I'll talk to Johnny about it tonight when we go." I responded, "Ash know I'm late?"

"No, she's been too busy with work to notice the time." Buster sighed, "I can't keep overloading her with work every time you lose track of time, eventually she'll catch on."

"I just have to finish this and then-" I started, but Buster stopped me.

"Finish what?" Buster asked, "What are you doing other than the scavenger hunt? I don't have you on any other assignments or performances."

"I promise it's not anything illegal or that I'm going back to how I used to be." I assured him, "It's just something I have to do, I need you to cover for me until I'm done."

"Are you alright?" Buster asked concerned.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's nothing like that. It's just something I'm doing for myself and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Secrets don't last long here." Buster told me.

"That's why you're the only one I told."

"You didn't tell me anything. Buster commented.

"I told you more than everyone else." I replied before leaving to go find Ash before she had to leave with Johnny.

 **Buster's POV**

After Miles left to go meet Ash, I went up to Heather's office to ask her out. I had everything planned out with Disney. When I made all of the arrangements for the scavenger hunt, I talked to them about this dinner and was able to arrange to have a private dining area on the upper level of the restaurant. As I made my way up the stairs to her office, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. I took a deep breath as I reached her door and reached up to open it, but before I could Heather did. She smiled when she saw me in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." She apologized, "I heard someone coming up the stairs, I thought I'd see who it was. You heading up to your office?"  
"I was coming to see you actually." I told her, she tilted her head curiously, "Are you busy on the 4th?"

"Not that I know of." She responded, "Why?"

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me?" I asked her, feeling my heart start to race.

She nodded, "I'd like that."

I beamed, "Great, I'll pick you up at five?"

"Where?"

"I can pick you up here or at your apartment, it's your choice." I responded.

"My apartment would be preferable."

"Done." I agreed, kissing her cheek, "I'll see you later."

I headed off to go find Mike and talk to him about possibly borrowing his car for the night.

 **Heather's POV**

I shook my head watching Buster go, he was always in such a hurry. I went back inside to continue talking to Stevie and Sasha, who were both working on the event at Lilac Terrance. We had finished discussing what left was needed for the event before Buster came up, now we were just talking.

"I see Buster finally asked you out." Sasha commented as I came back over, and then smiled, "Looks like Mike owes me his next paycheck."

"What happened to the no gambling rule you two had?" I asked in disbelief.

"It wasn't with each other." She responded, "We can make small bets with each other and betting against Mike isn't a gamble, it's an investment."

Stevie laughed at that.

"Soon you're going to find something else to gamble with other than money." I told Sasha.

"Oh, I've already thought about that and I'm going to give him that option tonight." She replied, "If he doesn't want to part with his paycheck, which is understandable, I've thought of something as equally rewarding."

"Food." I guessed.

She nodded, "He cooks dinner every night for the rest of the week. How'd you know?"

"You're pretty easy to guess." I told her, "It was either music, food, or sex."

"Music's always apart of dinner when Mike cooks and dinner usually leads to dancing, which leads to sex, so you wouldn't be too far off on any of them." Sasha responded, "He's got a playlist that he plays, which he always likes to sing along with every time he cooks, I always pull him away to dance when 'How Deep is the Ocean' starts to play."

"Geez, you'd think you two were rabbits with the way you go at it." Stevie spoke up.

"Mice are just as good as rabbits at the process of multiplication." Sasha smirked. Stevie's jaw dropped at Sasha's quip, while I laughed. She then changed the subject, "Now on a different matter, can I have the rest of the day off?"

"Sure, your costumes are in and you can tell Mike that has the day off too." I responded, not really seeing why they both need to be in today, "Just make sure you both are back here tomorrow night, so you guys can help set up Halloweentown. We'll need as much help as we can get to make sure it's all put together."

"Got it." Sasha responded before hopping down from the table, "We'll be there just a little after sunset." With that said, she left.

"You can go too, if you want Stevie." I told her, "There's nothing else that needs to be done here."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow night then." She smiled and left.

I sighed as I heard the phone ring, "Moon Theatre, Heather Greyson speaking, how can I help you?"

 **Layla's POV**

"There's my favorite niece." Uncle Joey spoke up as I entered the room. I had spent the past several minutes looking for Johnny, only to find both him and Mr. Maddox with Uncle Joey.

"Aren't I you're only niece?" I asked, wondering why he couldn't have just said hello.

"I think so." Uncle Joey responded unsurely, "You never know with Nic."

"Demon DeMarco might have a spawn?" I riposted.

"He might." Uncle Joey shrugged, "He might have several children."

"They'd have to be older than me if that's possible." I responded starting to seriously think about it.

"It's hard to say." Uncle Joey said, and then quickly changed the subject, "Now, do you have that book I asked you about?"

"Yeah." I replied as I took the book, Outlander, out of my backpack and gave it to him, "But what you want with this one is beyond me, I think it's a straight up gratuitous romance."

"Everyone needs a little love in their lives." Uncle Joey smirked, and then headed out of the rehearsal room.

"So, why you all in here?" I asked curiously.

"We were working on some things for the scavenger hunt." Mr. Maddox responded.

"Cool." I smiled, and then asked, "Do you care if I borrow Johnny for a bit?"

"Go for it." Mr. Maddox shrugged.

I took Johnny's hand and pulled him out the door, leading him towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Johnny asked.

"To spend some time together before you have to leave." I answered simply. He looked at me curiously, but I merely smirked back, not explaining any further. He understood where I was going though.

"We only have a couple of hours." He reminded.

"I think that's enough time." I replied, "If not, we can always finish when you come back."

 **Buster's POV**

By the end of day, it was just Eddie, Sean, and I. Heather had been in her office and was about to leave for the day. Mike and Sasha had left to go home hours ago. Miles went to meet Ash. Peter had been finishing the last updates to our new security system. Johnny and Layla were doing whatever it is they do when they aren't working. Joey had a new book that he wasn't going to be pulled away from anytime soon. Stevie, who could have gone home, chose to stay behind and teach Meena how to make and decorate caramel apples. Stevie and Meena were taking care of all of the concessions for the Halloweentown event. They were making and packaging homemade candies and drinks to give out. Tonight was their test run for Halloween. Sean, Eddie, and I were heading out to pick up dinner before we had to leave to work on our areas of the scavenger hunt.

"You guys think we should invite Heather to come with us?" Eddie asked, "I've been feeling kind of bad. With everything going on, we completely forgot her birthday last Sunday."

"I didn't." Sean responded, "I wished her a happy birthday and spent the evening with her. I got us food and we spent half the night on the phone with Disney working out arrangements for the scavenger hunt and all of the tickets needed for Mickey's Halloween Party. We had reached our cap for sales for the scavenger hunt, so Heather was able to call Disney back with all of the arrangements needed."

"I didn't know it was." I responded guiltily.

"That's because she didn't say anything." Sean shrugged.

"She's always been pretty quiet about her birthday." Eddie remarked.

"You know if you went and asked her out to dinner now, I doubt she'd turn you down." Sean tipped, "Maybe go see a movie afterward. Bell, Book, and Candle is playing at the Vista at seven, it's one of her favorites. We can handle everything with the scavenger hunt, we'll have Ash, Johnny, and Miles."

I quickly thanked him and ran up to Heather's office to try to catch her before she left for the night. I had to do something for her, they could go without me on this project for one night. Johnny, Miles and Ash had everything handled.

"Hi Buster." Heather greeted when I came into her office, "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah I did." I responded, "With everything going on, I forgot to ask you if you wanted to see Bell, Book, and Candle with me tonight. I was planning to ask you for your birthday, but things kept getting in the way. Would you like to go?"

Her eyes lit up at the mention of the film, it had been like the expression I had seen when I took her to see Gypsy. A radiant smile graced her lovely face.

"Maybe we could make dinner afterward and go over the final details for Halloweentown?" She suggested.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." I responded, "Are you ready to go now?"

"Uh yeah, I just have to put these files away."

"Are you going to need them tomorrow?" I asked her, she nodded, "Then leave them out, it'll save you time in the morning."

She looked at me and then looked down at the stack of folders on her desk, considering my suggestion. She then walked over to the filing cabinet, opened the bottom drawer, pulled out a couple of folders, and then closed the drawer. She placed the file with her others on her desk, and then turned to me and said, "Okay, I'm ready."

I swiftly lifted her blazer off the off of her chair, handed it to her, and we headed out the door.

 **Ash's POV**

Miles and I arrived in Disneyland a half an hour after we were supposed to. We were lucky weren't meeting with the representative until seven. We had a solid hour and a half before we had to meet up with the lady. We had planned to meet up and have dinner before we met up with her, but we only have enough time now to pick up a snack, meet up with Johnny at 6:45, and then go back to the front of the park to meet with her.

"Where were you earlier?" I asked curiously, I didn't mind that he had been late, we overshot the arrival time, so it wasn't like we were late.

"I had something I had to take care of." He responded vaguely, "I've been working on something for myself, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I lost track of time."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, "I want to see what comes out of it first." He then changed the subject, "You wanna go find a cart to get a couple of pretzels?"

"Maybe we could stop New Orleans Square and get a couple of mint juleps?"

"Yeah." Miles nodded, "You know, I have the recipe to make those."

"Really?" I asked impressed.

"Yeah, I found it online." He responded, "I'll have to make them next time you come over for dinner."

"So Saturday?"

Miles shrugged, "As long as I have everything, I have to double check the recipe. I mean it would go with what I had planned."

"Geez, have you ever thought of going to culinary school?" I asked him, he immediately looked down. "That's the thing isn't it?"

"I've been looking into it." Miles responded, "Toured a couple of schools this week and submitted some applications."

"That's great!"

"Uh yeah." He responded, not quite as enthusiastically, "So far I'm liking one in San Diego the best."

"That's almost three hours away."

"I know." He replied, "If I went, I'd probably come back and visit on the weekends. We would skype during the week, I'm not really sure what else we could do unless you want to come."

"When would you leave?"

"Right after Christmas." He answered, "I'd get settled down there before I started classes, find a job that fits with my class schedule." He then changed the subject back to food, "Let's go get some food, we talk more about this later. There's no rush to figure this out now."

 **Meena's POV**

"How did you get into all of this?" I asked making conversation as Stevie and I decorated the apples. I hadn't gotten much of a chance to really get to know Stevie since she was hired. Sure, I had talked to her, but it had been professionally.

"Probably in a similar way that you did." Stevie responded. I looked down at her, not really sure what she meant, "My mom loved to bake and I used to help her when I was a kit. It was one of the only things I was ever really good at other than art, I was never very good in school. Spent more time drawing than listening to what the teachers had to say. Usually, I finished the school year with a notebook full of sketches than notes."

"You mentioned you went to college for art."

She nodded, "I majored in studio art with a concentration in illustration." She specified, before going through the instructions for the next part of the decorating process. As the time went on, I continued to ask her questions about school and art and the places she's worked. As she get more comfortable, she started to tell stories about the different odd jobs she had had over the years she had done everything in the food business from catering and working in a food truck to designing exquisite wedding cakes.

"Look, it's not gonna take that much time." We heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door, judging by the accent it was either Sean or Mike. "I just have to put back that smoke alarm I switched the batteries out of this morning and we should be good to go. We're running too early anyway."

It had definitely been Sean. He was always pulling apart things that worked and trying to find new ways for them to work. He kind of reminded me of the guy from the show Home Improvement. How Stevie put up with him always in here trying to fix things was slightly hard to understand.

As Sean walked through the door, Stevie flashed a smile at him, "Did you forget something, Mr. Gunn?"

He stared at her for a moment gaping, unsure of what to say to her. When he recovered, he sputtered out, "I, uh, have to put back the, um, smoke uh-alarm."

"It's on the counter near the fridge." Stevie told him, "I've been meaning to talk to you, Mr. Gunn, one of the lights hasn't been working properly. Would I also you, Mr. Maddox, or Mr. DeMarco to take a look at it?"

"Well, uh, Joey's, um, not too good with fixing the electrics like me and Pete, he's the uh-type you'd want helpin' with your sets and stuff. He's a smart guy, not too much of a handyman." Sean replied, picking up the smoke alarm from the counter, "Um, Pete's good at that stuff, but he, uh, wouldn't be able to help until next week. I can take a look at it in the morning."

"You're not too busy?"

"Free all morning."

"Thank you, Mr. Gunn." Stevie responded, keeping the formal wording and tone. She then looked up at me, "I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get the last of plans for the decorations so I can use them to figure out what else I want to do with the food."


End file.
